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Nuclear Legacy
About this film
"The production of nuclear power and nuclear weapons over the past three decades has left a lethal legacy--more than 10,000 tons of the most radioactive substance on earth--'high level' nuclear waste. Under a 1982 law, the U.S. Department of Energy will begin permanently burying this waste by 1998. The first burial site will be selected by 1990. Once buried, the waste must remain isolated from the environment for a minimum of 10,000 years. "NUCLEAR LEGACY focuses on a series of critical decisions the federal government faces in the next five years--ones that could haunt the population for millennia to come. Will the burial site be selected on scientific evidence, or out of political expediency? Will the issue be resolved in a way that ensures the health and safety of future generations? The documentary examines these and other [crucial] issues. "The amount of high level nuclear waste now in temporary storage--10,000 metric tons--is expected to quadruple in fifteen years. When the first permanent nuclear waste storage facility opens, the backlog of spent fuel will require a shipment every ninety minutes, every day, for over twenty years--140,000 shipments in all. En route to the rep…
Directors & creators
KCTS (Television station : Seattle, Wash.)
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, Nuclear waste, Radioactive waste disposal, U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear power, Nuclear weapons, Hanford Site (Wash.), Deaf Smith County (Tex.), Nevada, High-level radioactive waste, Public health, Environmental protection, Environmental policy, Radiation—Health aspects, Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, Geological repositories, Public opinion, Washington (State), Texas, Waste management, Atomic energy, Columbia River, Radioactive pollution, Genetic mutation, Energy policy, Public relations
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