In March 2011 a tsunami hit a Japanese nuclear reactor and ignited a new debate on the safety of nuclear energy. This film explores the very different energy policies of two countries: Australia and Sweden.
AUSTRALIA: For decades people in Australia campaigned against the nuclear and uranium industries ¨C but global warming has now led some environmentalists to change their minds. Coal and gas generates 90 per cent of the country's electricity, and the fossil fuel lobby virtually dictates Australia's energy policy. They've come up with a technological fix that promises emission-free power from coal ¨C but the technology is in its infancy, and the eventual costs are unknown.
SWEDEN: For the past 20 years Sweden has generated half its electricity from nuclear reactors. Many people feel nuclear is safe ¨C despite the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. One of the greatest fears associated with nuclear energy is how to dispose of the dangerous waste ¨C and Sweden has an elaborate plan for this, but many other countries, including Australia, are having problems agreeing where to put it.
ALTERNATIVES: Are renewable forms of energy, such as wind, a feasible alternative source of energy? Denmark, the wind power capital of the world, gets an astonishing 20 per cent of its electricity from wind power. Says one commentator: "There are other necessary and urgent things that we should do to stop polluting the planet, and building nuclear power plants is not the answer."
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