Worst Nuclear Accidents in History

Head over to our shop to get exclusive kurzgesagt merch and sciency products designed with love. Getting something from the kurzgesagt shop is the best way to support us and to keep our videos free for everyone. ►► kgs.link/shop-138 (Worldwide Shipping Available)

"Let us know if you'd like a whole video abou-" YES

I would definitely like a whole video about nuclear waste

I like how the title is “Worst Nuclear Accidents in History” but the video isn’t really about that. Basically a trick to get people to realize how safe nuclear energy is compared to fossil fuels, and I love it.

There is also another factor to this than the pure numbers: Deaths related to nuclear, and renewable energy sources are nearly exclusively related to accidents, while the deaths related to fossil fuels are overwhelmingly a result of regular operation. Accidents can never be eliminated completely, but they can be reduced in frequency and severtiy by good preventative measures. So the potential death numbers of these energy sources are even lower, while fossil fuels will just keep on killing until they are phased out.

Deaths per energy unit sound like a stat for a weapon in a game.

"Do you want us to make a video about Nuclear Waste ?" Do u really need to ask ? MY HUNGER FOR KNOWLEDGE, KNOWS NO BOUNDS GIVE US THE SAUCE

This completely changed my point of view on nuclear power. I thought it was more dangerous than fossil fuels. I’m so glad I stumbled across this video.

After working in nuclear for almost a decade, I agree it is the safest. The safety culture of nuclear (at least in the US) is pushed very hard. A lot of training goes into even being able to access the sites. Almost all maintenance outages that I have worked have had no OSHA recordables, and many not even minor first aids.

"let us know if you'd like a whole video ab-" "YES WE OBVIOUSLY DO"

"We don't have anywhere to store used nuclear fuel, so it's bad" Well, we don't really have a good place to store fossil fuel emissions, but that hasn't stopped anyone

I can partially understand the fear from some people regarding nuclear reactions. However, I feel that many disregard the fact that it is virtually impossible for another nuclear accident to occur in power plants that utilize modern technology. In a modern day nuclear plant, there are a high number of fail-safes to ensure that no meltdown occurs. There are also plants that utilize much safer energy sources to ensure that rogue reactions (which aren’t common to begin with) or problems with materials don’t occur- for example, Thorium is extremely safe compared to Uranium (look up Sam Onella’s video regarding Thorium for more information in a similar vain to Kurzgesagt). One other problem that many people have is the radiation involved with nuclear reactions. While it is true that this is an issue that can’t be absolutely prevented- protective barriers, suits, and other measures are taken but are not absolute- this video really hit the nail saying that it is significantly less likely for people to suffer side effects or death in comparison to all other forms of energy. The numbers just don’t lie. Nuclear waste is an issue that’s also difficult to combat, but it’s leaps and bounds easier than trying to revert all the damage that the atmosphere and environment have taken through the use of fossil fuels. Worst comes to worse it is theoretically possible that we could launch all nuclear waste into space (just my own speculation), but I’d much rather deal with getting rid of nuclear waste later than trying to deal with an exponentially growing problem that jeopardizes all life on the planet in the form of air pollution and global warming. With the modern measures taken to ensure that accidents are a near impossibility and how efficient they are, I really think that the fear of such powerful technology needs to be trusted more as the processes get even safer.

4:25 Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated

Bruh these guys could talk about the dissapearance of my tv remote and I would still be fascinated

This reminds me of that one spongebob quote: "He poisoned our water supply, burned our crops, and delivered a plague unto our houses!" "He did?" "Well no, but are we going to wait around until he does??"

"Saving millions of lives seems to be something we should all agree on" Bro, I know you all lived through the same 2020 as we did.

I know this is an old video but I feel the need to comment. I have worked in nuclear power my entire adult life, and it is far safer than almost everything else. I feel like the major issue is that the general public is extraordinarily uninformed about nuclear power, and how it actually works. It seems like the majority of uneasiness about it is that the vast majority of people know next to nothing about it. They also know next to nothing about fossil fuels, and as such form an uneducated opinion based of 2-3 accidents that occurred decades ago. They have no idea the number of deaths that occur annually with traditional fuels vs nuclear, which is in the thousands for coal and basically 0 for nuclear. There is a lot of doom saying about nuclear, but as a short term option, it's as good as it's going to get.

I can't imagine one day when the Kurzgesagt team replaces the narrator. His voice is so important on Kurzgesagt's videos.

Yeah definitely want a full video of nuclear waste

seirously, nuclear energy (especially thorium, which would make a rlly good video) is like, 100x better in every category for producing energy. The fact we aren't funding it is insaine