WEBVTT

00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:03.621
- [Manager] Apollo 11 this is
the launch operations manager,

00:00:03.622 --> 00:00:06.270
the launch team wishes
you luck and godspeed.

00:00:06.271 --> 00:00:09.813
- [Neil] Thank you very much,
know it\'ll be a good one.

00:00:09.814 --> 00:00:12.909
- [Manager] Five, four, three, two...

00:00:12.910 --> 00:00:14.905
- We sometimes say \"moonshot\"
to mean miracle,

00:00:14.906 --> 00:00:17.071
but the moonshot wasn\'t a miracle.

00:00:17.072 --> 00:00:20.473
The moonshot was just great engineering

00:00:20.474 --> 00:00:23.641
of NASA from 1961 to 1969.

00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:27.284
I\'m old enough to remember it

00:00:27.285 --> 00:00:31.194
and to have watched every part of Mercury,

00:00:31.195 --> 00:00:33.889
Gemini and Apollo missions.

00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:37.557
And that was just the
greatest demonstration

00:00:39.664 --> 00:00:43.831
of organized engineering
prowess you could ever imagine.

00:00:48.792 --> 00:00:50.313
But it wasn\'t a miracle,

00:00:50.314 --> 00:00:53.564
it was just good, rigorous engineering.

00:00:56.194 --> 00:00:59.163
The shame of our world is that

00:00:59.164 --> 00:01:03.863
knowing that the climate
issue is an existential issue,

00:01:03.864 --> 00:01:07.914
we haven\'t gotten
organized to do a moonshot.

00:01:20.195 --> 00:01:21.375
- You know, I think if
you really want to do

00:01:21.376 --> 00:01:22.778
something about climate change,

00:01:22.779 --> 00:01:24.117
you need to stop talking about it

00:01:24.118 --> 00:01:26.951
as this sort of apocalyptic threat

00:01:27.822 --> 00:01:29.640
because it actually makes it much harder

00:01:29.641 --> 00:01:33.036
for anyone to embrace sort of pragmatic,

00:01:33.037 --> 00:01:35.954
reasonable actions to deal with it.

00:01:40.083 --> 00:01:42.440
- Part of the problem, we haven\'t
seen more action on

00:01:42.441 --> 00:01:43.450
climate change

00:01:43.451 --> 00:01:46.722
is traditionally thought of
not as a technological problem,

00:01:46.723 --> 00:01:48.596
but as a moral problem

00:01:48.597 --> 00:01:51.143
where people need to
change their behavior,

00:01:51.144 --> 00:01:53.277
they need to change how they
think about the environment,

00:01:53.278 --> 00:01:56.188
and we have all the technologies we need,

00:01:56.189 --> 00:01:57.608
which is something we hear all the time.

00:01:57.609 --> 00:01:59.071
You know, we have wind and solar,

00:01:59.072 --> 00:02:00.872
so we\'re ready to go,

00:02:00.873 --> 00:02:03.287
but that is not the case.

00:02:03.288 --> 00:02:06.225
The truth of it is that
it is a drop in the bucket

00:02:06.226 --> 00:02:10.309
in terms of doing anything
meaningful on climate.

00:02:23.697 --> 00:02:26.280
(gentle music)

00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.153
- [Announcer] Easy, clean, affordable,

00:02:52.154 --> 00:02:54.466
that\'s what powering America can be

00:02:54.467 --> 00:02:55.756
with your help.

00:02:55.757 --> 00:02:57.638
- [All] We love wind!

00:02:57.639 --> 00:02:59.452
- [Announcer] This is generation wind

00:02:59.453 --> 00:03:00.953
at Windpower 2016.

00:03:05.068 --> 00:03:07.818
(dramatic music)

00:03:10.795 --> 00:03:13.193
- We have a moral
imperative to make the shift

00:03:13.194 --> 00:03:16.114
from fossil fuel based dinosaur economy

00:03:16.115 --> 00:03:18.614
to 100% renewable economy.

00:03:18.615 --> 00:03:20.125
And we can do it.

00:03:20.126 --> 00:03:21.445
- You could power the United States,

00:03:21.446 --> 00:03:24.286
you could power most
of the world renewably,

00:03:24.287 --> 00:03:27.228
if you just decided to do it.

00:03:27.229 --> 00:03:30.103
- Already in much of the
country solar and wind

00:03:30.104 --> 00:03:32.437
will beat your utility bill.

00:03:35.104 --> 00:03:37.577
- The statement that caught
my attention from you was,

00:03:37.578 --> 00:03:39.950
there is enough wind to be harnessed,

00:03:39.951 --> 00:03:41.960
enough solar power to be generated

00:03:41.961 --> 00:03:44.128
to power the entire world.

00:03:45.457 --> 00:03:47.627
- The good news is that renewable energy

00:03:47.628 --> 00:03:51.009
is not only achievable,
but good economic policy.

00:03:51.010 --> 00:03:53.843
Now must be our moment for action.

00:03:55.584 --> 00:03:57.951
- We\'ve done 50 states, 50 plans.

00:03:57.952 --> 00:04:00.345
You go on our website,
every state has a plan

00:04:00.346 --> 00:04:02.492
to take us to 100% renewable energy.

00:04:02.493 --> 00:04:04.784
- Look at you. Looks at you!
(audience cheering)

00:04:04.785 --> 00:04:05.868
Mark Ruffalo.

00:04:08.350 --> 00:04:10.199
- The public and even
a lot of policymakers

00:04:10.200 --> 00:04:12.655
are just convinced that we\'re moments away

00:04:12.656 --> 00:04:13.789
from the tipping point

00:04:13.790 --> 00:04:15.609
where solar and wind
are gonna run the world,

00:04:15.610 --> 00:04:18.193
but, it\'s just-it\'s a fantasy.

00:04:21.112 --> 00:04:24.906
- One of the issues is the
variability of wind and solar.

00:04:24.907 --> 00:04:26.424
The sun doesn\'t always shine,

00:04:26.425 --> 00:04:28.014
the wind doesn\'t always blow.

00:04:28.015 --> 00:04:30.286
And it\'s not just on a daily basis,

00:04:30.287 --> 00:04:32.373
but the wind and the sun are often

00:04:32.374 --> 00:04:35.863
not really available over weeks.

00:04:35.864 --> 00:04:40.031
And batteries are only useful
for daily fluctuations.

00:04:41.768 --> 00:04:44.273
The second problem is that siting

00:04:44.274 --> 00:04:46.468
energy facilities of any kind

00:04:46.469 --> 00:04:49.134
is extremely challenging.

00:04:49.135 --> 00:04:51.427
We\'re talking about millions upon millions

00:04:51.428 --> 00:04:52.816
of wind turbines,

00:04:52.817 --> 00:04:56.109
it\'s large, concentrated
solar plants in deserts.

00:04:56.110 --> 00:04:59.636
Those things are not uncontroversial.

00:04:59.637 --> 00:05:03.343
Try and go site a wind
farm in northern Maine.

00:05:03.344 --> 00:05:05.302
There is going to be significant political

00:05:05.303 --> 00:05:09.470
and social issues with that
level of renewables build-out.

00:05:11.829 --> 00:05:12.854
- The fact of the matter is

00:05:12.855 --> 00:05:16.803
nobody likes any of the
energy alternatives.

00:05:16.804 --> 00:05:20.332
If it\'s wind it\'s unsightly
and it kills migratory birds,

00:05:20.333 --> 00:05:23.292
and if it\'s solar it covers huge areas

00:05:23.293 --> 00:05:27.394
in dryland ecosystems
which can be threatening,

00:05:27.395 --> 00:05:30.935
and in any event, you have high
voltage direct current lines

00:05:30.936 --> 00:05:34.141
that have to cross from
the renewable source

00:05:34.142 --> 00:05:36.142
to the population areas.

00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:39.316
- And for every additional megawatt

00:05:39.317 --> 00:05:41.667
of wind or solar you add,

00:05:41.668 --> 00:05:44.008
that\'s gonna require backup generation,

00:05:44.009 --> 00:05:46.316
it\'s gonna require
additional transmission,

00:05:46.317 --> 00:05:50.695
or you just have to way
overbuild the system.

00:05:50.696 --> 00:05:51.982
We\'re talking about trillions

00:05:51.983 --> 00:05:55.137
and trillions and trillions of dollars.

00:05:55.138 --> 00:05:57.329
We\'ve been at renewables for 20 years

00:05:57.330 --> 00:06:00.324
and we\'re at 5% and that\'s great,

00:06:00.325 --> 00:06:03.707
but we really need to
be at 100% zero-carbon,

00:06:03.708 --> 00:06:05.522
by the middle of the century.

00:06:05.523 --> 00:06:08.636
- It makes sense to scale up renewables

00:06:08.637 --> 00:06:11.813
up to some point, like, 20% or so.

00:06:11.814 --> 00:06:15.848
After that you need
something called baseload.

00:06:15.849 --> 00:06:18.535
You know, sort of a source of power

00:06:18.536 --> 00:06:20.746
that goes day and night, 24/7.

00:06:20.747 --> 00:06:23.355
And what could possibly supply that?

00:06:23.356 --> 00:06:25.156
Well, it\'s gonna be fossil fuels

00:06:25.157 --> 00:06:27.240
or it\'s gonna be nuclear.

00:06:31.682 --> 00:06:34.184
- In the last five to 10 years

00:06:34.185 --> 00:06:37.728
a new crop of entrepreneurs
have really come on to the scene

00:06:37.729 --> 00:06:39.385
and they\'ve been developing

00:06:39.386 --> 00:06:42.054
advanced nuclear technologies
to answer the questions

00:06:42.055 --> 00:06:45.086
that we have about climate change

00:06:45.087 --> 00:06:49.254
and to really try to provide
a lot of low-carbon energy.

00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.175
- You have a set of these small start-ups

00:06:53.176 --> 00:06:56.509
run by, you know, these really
young, idealistic people

00:06:56.510 --> 00:07:00.449
who are just finished
their graduate studies

00:07:00.450 --> 00:07:02.059
and who have come up with these, kind of,

00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:04.027
really innovative designs.

00:07:04.028 --> 00:07:07.195
You know, call it sort-of nuclear 2.0.

00:07:08.130 --> 00:07:10.094
- And the kids that have been coming in

00:07:10.095 --> 00:07:13.820
to nuclear engineering
over the last decade

00:07:13.821 --> 00:07:16.817
have been exceptionally talented.

00:07:16.818 --> 00:07:18.810
They\'re not coming into this field because

00:07:18.811 --> 00:07:20.756
they think they can get rich,

00:07:20.757 --> 00:07:22.676
they\'re coming into it because they think

00:07:22.677 --> 00:07:25.075
that this is an area where
they can actually do something

00:07:25.076 --> 00:07:27.576
that\'s important for humanity.

00:07:31.101 --> 00:07:33.606
- Ever since the early
days the nuclear industry

00:07:33.607 --> 00:07:36.594
has had both a lot of momentum,

00:07:36.595 --> 00:07:39.375
but also a lot of inertia.

00:07:39.376 --> 00:07:43.376
- It\'s an industry that
requires gigantic corporations

00:07:43.377 --> 00:07:47.544
and lots of coordination
between very slow-moving bodies.

00:07:51.057 --> 00:07:52.958
And it takes a very long time

00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.126
to turn a very large ship.

00:07:58.511 --> 00:08:02.125
And as a start-up, instead
of having all this inertia,

00:08:02.126 --> 00:08:04.647
we\'re trying to do
something that allows us

00:08:04.648 --> 00:08:06.565
to be much more nimble.

00:08:09.757 --> 00:08:13.625
I want to build an advanced
reactor in the next decade

00:08:13.626 --> 00:08:17.790
so that we can build them
all across the planet.

00:08:17.791 --> 00:08:22.582
- It\'s even bigger than the
1984 one that I have at home.

00:08:22.583 --> 00:08:25.537
- I think people of our
generation are the first ones

00:08:25.538 --> 00:08:29.437
that have the opportunity
to look at nuclear power

00:08:29.438 --> 00:08:32.611
without all of the emotional baggage

00:08:32.612 --> 00:08:35.612
that previous generations have felt.

00:08:36.677 --> 00:08:38.980
- [Leslie] The very
first geopolitical event

00:08:38.981 --> 00:08:40.541
that I can remember was

00:08:40.542 --> 00:08:43.386
the fall of the Berlin wall
when I as four years old.

00:08:43.387 --> 00:08:45.192
So for me there was never that

00:08:45.193 --> 00:08:47.860
looming Cold War nuclear threat.

00:08:50.018 --> 00:08:52.581
- The strongest association
I have in my childhood

00:08:52.582 --> 00:08:56.749
with nuclear power was probably
Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.

00:08:59.649 --> 00:09:01.780
- I first noticed Mark in one of our

00:09:01.781 --> 00:09:03.706
first-year nuclear engineering classes

00:09:03.707 --> 00:09:06.616
and our professor cracked
a really sexist joke,

00:09:06.617 --> 00:09:08.252
like, it was just not appropriate.

00:09:08.253 --> 00:09:10.728
I was the only woman in the
class, I kinda looked around

00:09:10.729 --> 00:09:12.218
and I look over and I see Mark

00:09:12.219 --> 00:09:14.313
and he is the only person
in the room other than me

00:09:14.314 --> 00:09:15.813
who is not laughing

00:09:15.814 --> 00:09:17.172
and I\'m like, I like that guys.

00:09:17.173 --> 00:09:18.523
It was probably another six months or so

00:09:18.524 --> 00:09:20.062
before we talked with each other,

00:09:20.063 --> 00:09:23.813
but, yeah, I knew you
were good from then on.

00:09:26.701 --> 00:09:28.139
Mark and I started
Transatomic when we were

00:09:28.140 --> 00:09:32.506
midway through our PhDs in
nuclear engineering at MIT

00:09:32.507 --> 00:09:35.621
\'cause we wanted to
develop a nuclear reactor

00:09:35.622 --> 00:09:39.201
that addressed safety
issues and waste issues.

00:09:39.202 --> 00:09:41.666
- It started out as academic pursuit,

00:09:41.667 --> 00:09:43.983
but once we started working on this,

00:09:43.984 --> 00:09:48.151
it seemed like we might
actually be on to something.

00:09:49.776 --> 00:09:52.912
- [Leslie] So some of the
very first nuclear reactors

00:09:52.913 --> 00:09:55.077
were designed for submarines.

00:09:55.078 --> 00:09:58.161
Those reactors used water as coolant.

00:10:00.677 --> 00:10:02.554
- [Mark] The reason water is still used

00:10:02.555 --> 00:10:05.107
in most reactors that we have today

00:10:05.108 --> 00:10:08.775
it\'s because it\'s just
so readily available.

00:10:10.009 --> 00:10:12.342
- [Leslie] Conventional
nuclear reactors are cooled

00:10:12.343 --> 00:10:13.509
by water that\'s heated up

00:10:13.510 --> 00:10:16.033
far past it\'s normal boiling point.

00:10:16.034 --> 00:10:20.141
So it has to be held at high
pressure to keep it liquid.

00:10:20.142 --> 00:10:21.748
If there\'s a break in the system,

00:10:21.749 --> 00:10:23.429
the water can flash into steam

00:10:23.430 --> 00:10:25.667
and cause a loss of coolant accident

00:10:25.668 --> 00:10:29.340
which could lead to a reactor meltdown.

00:10:29.341 --> 00:10:30.932
- [Mark] There\'s a simpler approach

00:10:30.933 --> 00:10:35.154
that gives you safety just through physics

00:10:35.155 --> 00:10:38.155
and there\'s no way to break physics.

00:10:39.575 --> 00:10:41.207
- [Leslie] Our design is actually adapted

00:10:41.208 --> 00:10:43.757
from an early type of nuclear reactor

00:10:43.758 --> 00:10:46.584
called a molten salt reactor.

00:10:46.585 --> 00:10:49.861
So our type of salt has
the radioactive material,

00:10:49.862 --> 00:10:53.362
the uranium, dissolved in the salt itself.

00:10:54.358 --> 00:10:56.828
One of the great things
about molten salt reactors

00:10:56.829 --> 00:10:59.035
is that they operate at the same pressure

00:10:59.036 --> 00:11:01.331
as the surrounding atmosphere.

00:11:01.332 --> 00:11:02.918
And if there\'s an accident,

00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:04.997
the liquid fuel drains into a holding tank

00:11:04.998 --> 00:11:07.099
below the reactor where
it can cool itself down

00:11:07.100 --> 00:11:10.935
and freeze solid over the
course of a few hours.

00:11:10.936 --> 00:11:12.561
So in a molten salt reactor,

00:11:12.562 --> 00:11:15.399
the fuel starts out
liquid and ends up solid.

00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:18.567
Which means you\'ve avoided a meltdown.

00:11:19.636 --> 00:11:20.814
- A lot of times we\'ll say that

00:11:20.815 --> 00:11:23.087
MS reactors are meltdown-proof,

00:11:23.088 --> 00:11:26.289
or they can\'t have catastrophic accidents,

00:11:26.290 --> 00:11:27.911
or they\'re walk-away safe.

00:11:27.912 --> 00:11:29.830
And what that really means is that

00:11:29.831 --> 00:11:31.423
if something goes wrong at the plant,

00:11:31.424 --> 00:11:33.169
if there\'s a tsunami or an earthquake

00:11:33.170 --> 00:11:35.178
or an airplane hits it,

00:11:35.179 --> 00:11:37.632
the plant shuts down on its own

00:11:37.633 --> 00:11:41.800
and is able to cool without the
need for human intervention.

00:11:43.191 --> 00:11:45.734
- Advanced nuclear reactors are

00:11:45.735 --> 00:11:48.616
non-light water reactor technologies.

00:11:48.617 --> 00:11:52.261
And we call them generation four reactors.

00:11:52.262 --> 00:11:55.306
Transatomic\'s design is
a molten salt reactor

00:11:55.307 --> 00:11:56.455
that actually shuts itself down,

00:11:56.456 --> 00:11:57.538
we call it passive safety

00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:01.251
meaning the design itself
is inherently safe.

00:12:01.252 --> 00:12:03.007
- So we were able to take the earlier

00:12:03.008 --> 00:12:04.665
molten salt reactor design

00:12:04.666 --> 00:12:07.943
and we were able to make
it 20 times as power dense,

00:12:07.944 --> 00:12:12.399
much more compact, orders
of magnitude cheaper.

00:12:12.400 --> 00:12:15.602
And so we are commercializing our design

00:12:15.603 --> 00:12:17.814
for a new type of nuclear reactor

00:12:17.815 --> 00:12:21.982
that can consume existing
stockpiles of nuclear waste.

00:12:27.394 --> 00:12:29.602
- [Mark] When we say
it\'s waste or spent fuel

00:12:29.603 --> 00:12:32.603
it still has 95% uranium in it.

00:12:33.613 --> 00:12:36.548
The reason it\'s spent is
it\'s no longer able to get

00:12:36.549 --> 00:12:38.930
the necessary energy that they want

00:12:38.931 --> 00:12:40.931
out of the reactor core.

00:12:45.706 --> 00:12:49.122
- It\'s like taking a log and
putting it in the fireplace

00:12:49.123 --> 00:12:51.623
and burning the bark off of it

00:12:52.732 --> 00:12:55.401
and then throwing away the log.

00:12:55.402 --> 00:12:57.891
And, unfortunately that log
that you\'re throwing away

00:12:57.892 --> 00:12:59.975
is also very radioactive.

00:13:03.208 --> 00:13:05.778
- Waste is a concern for a lot of people.

00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:07.468
For a lot of people it\'s their

00:13:07.469 --> 00:13:09.208
first concern about nuclear power.

00:13:09.209 --> 00:13:11.158
But what\'s really amazing about it

00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.776
is that most of what we call nuclear waste

00:13:14.777 --> 00:13:18.213
could actually be used again for fuel.

00:13:18.214 --> 00:13:20.560
And if you use it again for fuel

00:13:20.561 --> 00:13:25.094
you don\'t have to store it for
tens of thousands of years.

00:13:25.095 --> 00:13:26.724
With these advanced reactors

00:13:26.725 --> 00:13:28.092
you can close the fuel cycle,

00:13:28.093 --> 00:13:30.735
you can start using that
spent fuel, recycling it,

00:13:30.736 --> 00:13:34.319
turning it to new fuel
over and over again.

00:13:40.161 --> 00:13:42.326
- Awesome, let\'s do that.

00:13:42.327 --> 00:13:43.923
We started thinking about how we could

00:13:43.924 --> 00:13:46.749
start our own company that
could be small and nimble

00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:50.917
and bring this to fruition
as quickly as possible.

00:13:52.577 --> 00:13:54.066
- The ending goal of Transatomic

00:13:54.067 --> 00:13:56.005
is to build a nuclear reactor

00:13:56.006 --> 00:13:57.533
and, as we know, nuclear reactors cost

00:13:57.534 --> 00:14:01.773
on the order of a couple billion dollars.

00:14:01.774 --> 00:14:02.925
There\'s no one out there

00:14:02.926 --> 00:14:05.219
that\'s instantly going to
say oh, I love that idea,

00:14:05.220 --> 00:14:06.909
here\'s five billion dollars, go build it.

00:14:06.910 --> 00:14:09.480
It\'s gotta happen in stages.

00:14:09.481 --> 00:14:13.116
To put this simply, a nuclear
reactor is not an Apple.

00:14:13.117 --> 00:14:15.223
This is not the kind of
idea that can be fueled

00:14:15.224 --> 00:14:17.228
on pizza and lines of code

00:14:17.229 --> 00:14:20.125
and, poof, you make $100,000.

00:14:20.126 --> 00:14:22.934
The risk is proportional to the reward

00:14:22.935 --> 00:14:25.935
and this is about as big as it gets.

00:14:27.174 --> 00:14:30.333
- [Leslie] Automatic van doors
are really confusing to me.

00:14:30.334 --> 00:14:32.607
- It is really confusing.

00:14:32.608 --> 00:14:34.402
Um, did you also lock it?

00:14:34.403 --> 00:14:35.236
- Oh, yeah.

00:14:35.236 --> 00:14:36.069
- Thank you.

00:14:36.070 --> 00:14:38.361
- After we shut this,
or can we do it before?

00:14:38.362 --> 00:14:39.470
- We\'ll just shut this.

00:14:39.471 --> 00:14:42.632
- I really don\'t know how cars work.

00:14:42.633 --> 00:14:44.883
- Personally I didn\'t want to end up

00:14:44.884 --> 00:14:48.047
like so many nuclear engineers

00:14:48.048 --> 00:14:50.541
where they\'ve spent their entire careers

00:14:50.542 --> 00:14:53.750
designing nuclear reactors,
but we haven\'t built

00:14:53.751 --> 00:14:56.751
a new, advanced reactor in 30 years.

00:14:59.213 --> 00:15:01.991
That\'s why I\'m doing this.

00:15:01.992 --> 00:15:04.895
This is the right time
for something to happen

00:15:04.896 --> 00:15:06.876
with nuclear power.

00:15:06.877 --> 00:15:10.763
- So in spring of 2011 we
incorporated the company,

00:15:10.764 --> 00:15:14.226
actually 25 years to the day
after the Chernobyl meltdown,

00:15:14.227 --> 00:15:16.407
though we didn\'t realize it at the time.

00:15:16.408 --> 00:15:18.368
(dramatic music)

00:15:18.369 --> 00:15:20.312
- There has been a nuclear
accident in the Soviet Union

00:15:20.313 --> 00:15:22.650
and the Soviets have
admitted that it happened.

00:15:22.651 --> 00:15:24.131
- The accident occurred

00:15:24.132 --> 00:15:26.843
at the Chernobyl nuclear
plant in the Ukraine.

00:15:26.844 --> 00:15:29.344
There may be a major disaster.

00:15:30.202 --> 00:15:33.082
- [Newscaster] This morning
there are real fears

00:15:33.083 --> 00:15:34.386
of a meltdown in Japan.

00:15:34.387 --> 00:15:35.736
There has been a giant explosion

00:15:35.737 --> 00:15:38.320
at a nuclear power plant there.

00:15:39.253 --> 00:15:40.463
- [Mike] We had a meeting that day,

00:15:40.464 --> 00:15:42.396
we were watching some of
the explosions on the screen

00:15:42.397 --> 00:15:45.757
and we were all just terrified.

00:15:45.758 --> 00:15:47.022
And I just remember looking at it,

00:15:47.023 --> 00:15:49.242
kind of in shock.

00:15:49.243 --> 00:15:53.244
I was worried, you know,
for the people out there.

00:15:53.245 --> 00:15:54.746
- It was, like, the nightmare scenario.

00:15:54.747 --> 00:15:58.133
These non-Soviet bloc
reactors were sort of

00:15:58.134 --> 00:16:00.293
blowing up on the screen

00:16:00.294 --> 00:16:01.565
and here we are trying to tell everyone

00:16:01.566 --> 00:16:03.316
that nuclear is safe.

00:16:06.048 --> 00:16:07.692
- The perception of the risks

00:16:07.693 --> 00:16:09.805
and the history of a couple of meltdowns

00:16:09.806 --> 00:16:13.919
have really scared the
public off of nuclear plants.

00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:15.785
For a bunch of reasons
they\'ve been unacceptable

00:16:15.786 --> 00:16:17.843
to publics around the world.

00:16:17.844 --> 00:16:20.594
(crowd shouting)

00:16:28.942 --> 00:16:30.079
During that time you get
these nuclear plants,

00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.432
everyone\'s freaked out.

00:16:32.433 --> 00:16:35.707
And they became these sort
of projection screens for,

00:16:35.708 --> 00:16:38.968
sort of, everybody\'s
fears about nuclear energy

00:16:38.969 --> 00:16:41.453
and energy production more generally.

00:16:41.454 --> 00:16:44.037
- (crying) No!

00:16:46.295 --> 00:16:48.903
- They obviously have a problem,

00:16:48.904 --> 00:16:52.962
they might have come close
to exposing the core.

00:16:52.963 --> 00:16:54.729
- If that\'s true then we came very close

00:16:54.730 --> 00:16:56.780
to the China syndrome,

00:16:56.781 --> 00:16:59.387
if there core is exposed,
for whatever reason,

00:16:59.388 --> 00:17:01.683
the fuel heats beyond core heat tolerance

00:17:01.684 --> 00:17:03.289
in a matter of minutes.

00:17:03.290 --> 00:17:04.864
Nothing can stop it.

00:17:04.865 --> 00:17:06.437
Render an area the size of Pennsylvania

00:17:06.438 --> 00:17:08.605
permanently uninhabitable.

00:17:13.025 --> 00:17:15.098
- Frank, it was an accident
at the Three Mile Island

00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:17.550
nuclear power plant, which
is located on an island

00:17:17.551 --> 00:17:19.832
in the Susquehanna River ten miles from...

00:17:19.833 --> 00:17:24.421
- I grew up and experienced
Three Mile Island scare

00:17:24.422 --> 00:17:26.236
\'cause I was living downwind

00:17:26.237 --> 00:17:29.026
from Three Mile Island at that time

00:17:29.027 --> 00:17:33.194
and it\'s natural to say,
look, I\'m afraid of this.

00:17:34.096 --> 00:17:36.681
That\'s a normal response.

00:17:36.682 --> 00:17:39.647
But if you think about
it, the fact of it is

00:17:39.648 --> 00:17:44.168
in the United States there\'s
tens of thousands of people

00:17:44.169 --> 00:17:48.252
being killed every year
in automobile accidents.

00:17:49.413 --> 00:17:53.580
And yet what we hear on the
news is about airplane crashes.

00:17:55.168 --> 00:17:56.448
But air travel is one of the safest

00:17:56.449 --> 00:17:59.116
forms of travel that we know of.

00:18:00.918 --> 00:18:02.594
I think the situation with nuclear power

00:18:02.595 --> 00:18:05.127
is a little bit like this,

00:18:05.128 --> 00:18:09.144
that when there\'s a
Fukushima or a Chernobyl

00:18:09.145 --> 00:18:12.812
it gets in the news
because it\'s so unusual.

00:18:14.964 --> 00:18:17.500
- It\'s all very well to
worry about nuclear safety,

00:18:17.501 --> 00:18:19.501
as we all should,

00:18:19.502 --> 00:18:21.304
but we also have to weight that

00:18:21.305 --> 00:18:25.135
against the safety of other
forms of power production.

00:18:25.136 --> 00:18:26.596
So people think of Chernobyl,

00:18:26.597 --> 00:18:29.339
they think of Fukushima and so forth,

00:18:29.340 --> 00:18:31.834
what they don\'t think of is the

00:18:31.835 --> 00:18:36.760
one to two million lives
that nuclear power has saved

00:18:36.761 --> 00:18:40.594
by virtue of displacing
coal, which is lethal.

00:18:43.525 --> 00:18:46.205
Coal is by far the most
dangerous form of energy

00:18:46.206 --> 00:18:48.433
we\'ve ever engaged in.

00:18:48.434 --> 00:18:50.596
Everybody knows this.

00:18:50.597 --> 00:18:52.750
The American Medical Association estimates

00:18:52.751 --> 00:18:56.751
that 13,000 Americans die
prematurely every year

00:18:58.155 --> 00:19:01.738
because of health-related
problems of coal.

00:19:03.966 --> 00:19:05.893
- [Ken] More people die every day

00:19:05.894 --> 00:19:09.090
from particulates from
the combustion of coal

00:19:09.091 --> 00:19:13.258
than have died in the entire
history of nuclear power.

00:19:15.060 --> 00:19:17.198
- So scientists look at it that way.

00:19:17.199 --> 00:19:21.006
I mean, you can\'t compare
nuclear to no energy.

00:19:21.007 --> 00:19:22.333
That\'s not rational.

00:19:22.334 --> 00:19:25.853
You have to compare it
to other forms of energy.

00:19:25.854 --> 00:19:28.893
Why should we treat nuclear any different?

00:19:28.894 --> 00:19:32.311
It\'s this irrational fear of the unknown.

00:19:41.858 --> 00:19:44.215
- Did you see him yet?

00:19:44.216 --> 00:19:47.064
He\'s right through there.

00:19:47.065 --> 00:19:48.429
Well, he was back there.

00:19:48.430 --> 00:19:52.323
- I think he\'s shy,
they\'re very camera shy.

00:19:52.324 --> 00:19:53.998
So we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon

00:19:53.999 --> 00:19:55.198
and we had such a good time there

00:19:55.199 --> 00:19:56.597
and I wanted to capture a piece of that

00:19:56.598 --> 00:19:58.967
for our anniversary

00:19:58.968 --> 00:20:02.979
and I discovered these tiny
little poison dart frogs.

00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:04.542
- I was a nerdy kid.

00:20:04.543 --> 00:20:06.485
I loved reading and I liked,

00:20:06.486 --> 00:20:09.051
I realized early on I like math and stuff

00:20:09.052 --> 00:20:11.505
\'cause I felt like it was so logical.

00:20:11.506 --> 00:20:15.118
I remember I was always the
oddball out, no matter what.

00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:18.363
When I was younger and I wasn\'t
as sure what I wanted to do.

00:20:18.364 --> 00:20:19.764
And I once I get to college

00:20:19.765 --> 00:20:22.975
I got roped into doing
work on our race car team.

00:20:22.976 --> 00:20:26.211
So I fell in love with it
and working on that team,

00:20:26.212 --> 00:20:28.169
you kind of learn what
mechanical engineering is

00:20:28.170 --> 00:20:29.956
before you actually take the classes.

00:20:29.957 --> 00:20:32.092
And then I realized I was
really interested in nuclear

00:20:32.093 --> 00:20:35.771
and I was exposed to a
couple people who did it

00:20:35.772 --> 00:20:38.189
and 2008 I met Jacob DeWitte.

00:20:40.506 --> 00:20:42.804
- I first got really interested in nuclear

00:20:42.805 --> 00:20:45.162
when I was, like, four, five.

00:20:45.163 --> 00:20:47.145
I was born and raised in Albuquerque

00:20:47.146 --> 00:20:49.593
and my dad worked at Sandia
National Laboratories.

00:20:49.594 --> 00:20:52.346
They say that about a quarter
of Albuquerque\'s energy

00:20:52.347 --> 00:20:55.090
came from a nuclear power
plant in Arizona, Palo Verde.

00:20:55.091 --> 00:20:56.713
And I was, like, that\'s so cool!

00:20:56.714 --> 00:20:58.511
So that means when I go
home and turn the lights on,

00:20:58.512 --> 00:20:59.487
that\'s nuclear power.

00:20:59.488 --> 00:21:01.125
I literally went home that day

00:21:01.126 --> 00:21:03.002
and turned the lights on
and off and on and off

00:21:03.003 --> 00:21:05.113
thinking every fourth time I did that

00:21:05.114 --> 00:21:09.820
there was a nuclear power,
you know, light bulb.

00:21:09.821 --> 00:21:11.140
So I\'d always known I wanted to

00:21:11.141 --> 00:21:12.686
do something in nuclear power,

00:21:12.687 --> 00:21:15.989
I\'d always known that
I wanted to study it.

00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:19.141
I met Caroline when I
first visited grad school

00:21:19.142 --> 00:21:22.093
and we ended up working
in this course together

00:21:22.094 --> 00:21:23.927
in the summer of 2009.

00:21:25.288 --> 00:21:26.611
- [Caroline] And it was around that time

00:21:26.612 --> 00:21:28.698
there was a resurgence
of looking at nuclear

00:21:28.699 --> 00:21:31.103
and seeing what it can do.

00:21:31.104 --> 00:21:33.058
Then we started looking
at what would it look like

00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:36.495
if we started looking at
this entrepreneurially?

00:21:36.496 --> 00:21:38.844
- And the idea was to build
this reactor that could

00:21:38.845 --> 00:21:41.298
actually consume and convert
nuclear waste energy.

00:21:41.299 --> 00:21:42.766
Was simpler, was cheaper,

00:21:42.767 --> 00:21:45.052
had all the great benefits that you see

00:21:45.053 --> 00:21:46.537
with advanced technologies.

00:21:46.538 --> 00:21:48.966
But the thing that really stood
out to me during that time

00:21:48.967 --> 00:21:51.715
was the question about how
do you get one of these

00:21:51.716 --> 00:21:54.018
advanced reactors to market?

00:21:54.019 --> 00:21:56.647
\'Cause it\'s really hard to get a customer

00:21:56.648 --> 00:22:00.231
for something brand
new in the power space.

00:22:03.129 --> 00:22:05.011
- [Caroline] The United States
has a surprising number of

00:22:05.012 --> 00:22:08.892
microgrids, or every expensive grids.

00:22:08.893 --> 00:22:10.875
People who live in remote areas

00:22:10.876 --> 00:22:14.209
and they can\'t get reliable electricity.

00:22:15.053 --> 00:22:16.822
That could be data centers,

00:22:16.823 --> 00:22:19.823
it could be remote extraction sites.

00:22:21.198 --> 00:22:23.049
- That eventually
evolved into us realizing

00:22:23.050 --> 00:22:24.773
that there\'s this huge,
awesome opportunity

00:22:24.774 --> 00:22:27.170
in off-grid markets where they need power

00:22:27.171 --> 00:22:29.126
and they\'re relying on diesel generators

00:22:29.127 --> 00:22:30.350
because the only way that you can get

00:22:30.351 --> 00:22:31.700
energy to these places.

00:22:31.701 --> 00:22:32.890
You can\'t run power lines

00:22:32.891 --> 00:22:37.058
so the only way you can is
by trucking in diesel fuel.

00:22:38.392 --> 00:22:40.434
And we were talking with
some of these communities

00:22:40.435 --> 00:22:42.486
and we realized they use diesel fuel

00:22:42.487 --> 00:22:45.520
because it\'s the most energy
dense fuel that they know of.

00:22:45.521 --> 00:22:46.772
And I was like, man,

00:22:46.773 --> 00:22:49.331
nuclear\'s two million
times as energy dense.

00:22:49.332 --> 00:22:51.026
And they were just,
kinda said that casually,

00:22:51.027 --> 00:22:52.641
and they were like, wait, are you serious?

00:22:52.642 --> 00:22:54.438
Can you build a reactor
that would be at that size?

00:22:54.439 --> 00:22:55.856
And I said, sure.

00:22:57.001 --> 00:22:58.085
So that got us thinking,

00:22:58.086 --> 00:22:59.463
man, we should go small to start.

00:22:59.464 --> 00:23:03.216
And that\'s kind of where the
idea of starting a company

00:23:03.217 --> 00:23:06.300
formed into what it looks like today.

00:23:09.105 --> 00:23:12.611
- One interesting development
in the last maybe decade or so

00:23:12.612 --> 00:23:14.734
is that we\'re able to do nuclear design

00:23:14.735 --> 00:23:17.125
just with computers in a meaningful way.

00:23:17.126 --> 00:23:19.296
It used to be that you\'d
have to run an experiment,

00:23:19.297 --> 00:23:21.197
you\'d have to build a
really expensive experiment

00:23:21.198 --> 00:23:22.463
and have fuel for it

00:23:22.464 --> 00:23:25.593
and do empirical studies to
understand what\'s going on.

00:23:25.594 --> 00:23:28.300
But sort of recently, computers
have gotten powerful enough

00:23:28.301 --> 00:23:31.804
and the modeling and simulations
have gotten big enough

00:23:31.805 --> 00:23:33.658
that we can actually do
quite a bit of meaningful,

00:23:33.659 --> 00:23:37.918
realistic nuclear design
just on a computer.

00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:40.910
- Jake and Caroline are
developing a technology

00:23:40.911 --> 00:23:42.246
for a very different market

00:23:42.247 --> 00:23:43.901
from a lot of the other start-ups.

00:23:43.902 --> 00:23:46.021
It\'s a micro-reactor, really.

00:23:46.022 --> 00:23:47.286
They\'re not trying to compete with

00:23:47.287 --> 00:23:50.036
the existent reactors that we have today.

00:23:50.037 --> 00:23:52.958
And because their reactor is so small

00:23:52.959 --> 00:23:55.586
there\'s a potential that
they could prototype it

00:23:55.587 --> 00:23:57.566
and demonstrate it for a much lower cost

00:23:57.567 --> 00:23:59.349
than some of the large reactors.

00:23:59.350 --> 00:24:01.545
That means that they could
get to commercialization

00:24:01.546 --> 00:24:05.413
at lower cost, but also much quicker.

00:24:05.414 --> 00:24:08.471
- Oklo\'s reactor, it\'s
a very small reactor.

00:24:08.472 --> 00:24:10.240
And it\'s actually more
of a nuclear battery

00:24:10.241 --> 00:24:12.061
than it is a nuclear reactor.

00:24:12.062 --> 00:24:14.956
And it will go after very
unique, but important,

00:24:14.957 --> 00:24:18.896
applications where you need
small amounts of energy.

00:24:18.897 --> 00:24:22.254
It\'s got a simple, but
very elegant, design

00:24:22.255 --> 00:24:25.299
as an approach to how you transfer heat.

00:24:25.300 --> 00:24:28.790
And that also lends
itself to passive safety.

00:24:28.791 --> 00:24:30.760
- [Jacob] Our first
reactor\'s design is basically

00:24:30.761 --> 00:24:33.091
a solid block of fuel

00:24:33.092 --> 00:24:35.006
that then has a tiny bit of fluid

00:24:35.007 --> 00:24:36.851
that caries heat out from the fuel

00:24:36.852 --> 00:24:38.740
up to where we use it.

00:24:38.741 --> 00:24:40.399
And you don\'t have any pumps,
you don\'t have any valves,

00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:42.531
you don\'t have any moving
parts in that reactor block.

00:24:42.532 --> 00:24:44.975
And the heat is moved
completely naturally,

00:24:44.976 --> 00:24:46.233
completely passively.

00:24:46.234 --> 00:24:48.760
There\'s no intervention
that can change it.

00:24:48.761 --> 00:24:50.031
- The neat thing about this is

00:24:50.032 --> 00:24:52.410
that it can be manufactured at scale.

00:24:52.411 --> 00:24:54.430
And I think that\'s what
all small, modular reactors

00:24:54.431 --> 00:24:56.030
are hoping for, is something that,

00:24:56.031 --> 00:24:59.098
you\'re not just building some humongous,

00:24:59.099 --> 00:25:03.340
one-off thing that is only
like that in one place.

00:25:03.341 --> 00:25:06.106
You can benefit from
the economies of scale

00:25:06.107 --> 00:25:08.440
by mass producing something.

00:25:11.957 --> 00:25:13.678
- The advanced nuclear plants

00:25:13.679 --> 00:25:15.646
that are being developed right now

00:25:15.647 --> 00:25:19.207
are very different from your
grandfather\'s nuclear plant.

00:25:19.208 --> 00:25:20.940
We\'re talking about plants that are

00:25:20.941 --> 00:25:22.750
probably a third of the size,

00:25:22.751 --> 00:25:24.950
about a third of the material.

00:25:24.951 --> 00:25:26.887
You can roll them off the
assembly line like Boeings

00:25:26.888 --> 00:25:30.635
at a cost of about a half to a third

00:25:30.636 --> 00:25:32.803
of today\'s nuclear plants.

00:25:34.483 --> 00:25:37.416
- Today a ship or a reactor

00:25:37.417 --> 00:25:40.529
can look a lot like Ikea furniture.

00:25:40.530 --> 00:25:42.501
It\'s factory fabricated,

00:25:42.502 --> 00:25:46.669
you just assemble it once
you deliver it to the site.

00:25:47.714 --> 00:25:52.646
- If we could start
mass-producing nuclear reactors,

00:25:52.647 --> 00:25:55.730
that\'ll just scale it up much faster.

00:25:57.485 --> 00:26:00.007
And that\'s how you get a big transition

00:26:00.008 --> 00:26:02.091
to clean energy globally.

00:26:11.902 --> 00:26:15.632
(group applauding)

00:26:15.633 --> 00:26:17.643
- There\'s a topic near to my heart,

00:26:17.644 --> 00:26:20.490
I\'ve kind of been in the industry a while,

00:26:20.491 --> 00:26:22.459
this is kind of my personal outreach,

00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:23.721
and it\'s just to answer,

00:26:23.722 --> 00:26:25.388
you know, we were talking to
a lot of people about nuclear,

00:26:25.389 --> 00:26:26.565
we\'re pretty excited about it

00:26:26.566 --> 00:26:28.098
and people always said
kind of the same thing,

00:26:28.099 --> 00:26:30.314
they said, you know my first thought is

00:26:30.315 --> 00:26:31.555
I\'m not in favor of it,

00:26:31.556 --> 00:26:33.836
but I don\'t really know anything about it.

00:26:33.837 --> 00:26:35.298
That\'s a pretty common sentiment...

00:26:35.299 --> 00:26:38.638
I really enjoy talking
to people about nuclear.

00:26:38.639 --> 00:26:40.496
Having gone into nuclear

00:26:40.497 --> 00:26:42.957
to help with the world\'s energy problems,

00:26:42.958 --> 00:26:44.783
I think winning the public over,

00:26:44.784 --> 00:26:47.645
or convincing them that
it can be a good idea

00:26:47.646 --> 00:26:49.646
is absolutely essential.

00:26:51.025 --> 00:26:53.687
I have this webpage, whatisnuclear.com,

00:26:53.688 --> 00:26:55.397
and I\'ve enjoyed making that.

00:26:55.398 --> 00:26:57.287
It\'s meant to sort of communicate with

00:26:57.288 --> 00:27:00.339
intelligent people on the street.

00:27:00.340 --> 00:27:03.373
I feel like people understand
what\'s going on with nuclear,

00:27:03.374 --> 00:27:05.499
they\'re much more open to it.

00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:07.312
It\'s when it\'s mysterious
that they don\'t really,

00:27:07.313 --> 00:27:09.063
people don\'t like it.

00:27:12.537 --> 00:27:13.958
A fission chain reaction starts

00:27:13.959 --> 00:27:16.958
when a neutron encounters a uranium atom,

00:27:16.959 --> 00:27:20.372
or some other nuclear fuel atom.

00:27:20.373 --> 00:27:22.862
When the neutron hits it
it just splits in half

00:27:22.863 --> 00:27:24.922
and that splitting releases

00:27:24.923 --> 00:27:28.736
just an astounding amount of energy.

00:27:28.737 --> 00:27:30.993
It also releases a couple extra neutrons.

00:27:30.994 --> 00:27:34.414
So if one of those neutrons
encounters another fuel atom,

00:27:34.415 --> 00:27:36.248
that atom will split.

00:27:36.249 --> 00:27:40.486
And then they\'ll continue on
in this big chain reaction.

00:27:40.487 --> 00:27:42.842
So a nuclear reactor is just a machine

00:27:42.843 --> 00:27:46.343
that facilitates a nuclear chain reaction.

00:27:48.375 --> 00:27:52.046
- Very few people understand
what a nuclear reaction is.

00:27:52.047 --> 00:27:55.634
And, of course, there is
a huge confusion between

00:27:55.635 --> 00:27:57.908
the kind of nuclear reactions that result

00:27:57.909 --> 00:27:59.879
in an explosion, an atomic bomb,

00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:01.749
and the sort of nuclear reactions

00:28:01.750 --> 00:28:04.450
controlled to drive a plant.

00:28:04.451 --> 00:28:06.874
Most people don\'t understand
that it\'s impossible

00:28:06.875 --> 00:28:09.913
for a nuclear power plant
literally to explode,

00:28:09.914 --> 00:28:13.078
in the sense of an atomic explosion.

00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:14.922
But one thing I will say is that

00:28:14.923 --> 00:28:19.042
the nuclear industry
are very bad marketers.

00:28:19.043 --> 00:28:22.641
We probably should have
dropped the world nuclear

00:28:22.642 --> 00:28:26.573
when we went from making
bombs to making power plants.

00:28:26.574 --> 00:28:27.768
That would have been smart.

00:28:27.769 --> 00:28:29.686
They\'re fission plants.

00:28:32.436 --> 00:28:35.925
- Nuclear was introduced to
the world through a weapon.

00:28:35.926 --> 00:28:38.265
But nowadays the thing
people are hearing about is

00:28:38.266 --> 00:28:40.784
environment or climate change

00:28:40.785 --> 00:28:44.295
and from that perspective
nuclear is much more interesting.

00:28:44.296 --> 00:28:47.142
And I think to get people\'s
support behind nuclear

00:28:47.143 --> 00:28:49.722
is really key to its success

00:28:49.723 --> 00:28:53.890
and its ability to help us
with the climate problem.

00:29:02.716 --> 00:29:05.577
- Nearly 170 nations arrived here

00:29:05.578 --> 00:29:09.156
for the largest ever
gathering of it\'s kind.

00:29:09.157 --> 00:29:11.747
- They\'ll take part in two
weeks of intense negotiations

00:29:11.748 --> 00:29:15.748
aimed at forging a deal
to limit global warming.

00:29:17.365 --> 00:29:19.228
- 1995 was the first
conference of the parties,

00:29:19.229 --> 00:29:22.062
the first COP, that was in Berlin.

00:29:25.235 --> 00:29:27.607
And I would say that the first 20 COPs

00:29:27.608 --> 00:29:30.025
have not delivered the goods.

00:29:31.692 --> 00:29:35.036
They have been a cop-out,
if I can put it that way.

00:29:35.037 --> 00:29:37.870
They have not delivered the goods.

00:29:40.604 --> 00:29:43.725
COP21 is our last chance in the world

00:29:43.726 --> 00:29:47.927
to stay at even the remotely safe margin,

00:29:47.928 --> 00:29:49.533
because we\'ve had so much advance

00:29:49.534 --> 00:29:51.587
of human-induced climate change.

00:29:51.588 --> 00:29:55.250
It takes so long to pick up
the pieces after a failure

00:29:55.251 --> 00:29:59.418
that if COP21 fails, we\'re
absolutely adrift in danger.

00:30:05.065 --> 00:30:06.872
- It\'s hard to get political leaders

00:30:06.873 --> 00:30:08.873
to face up to the truth.

00:30:09.871 --> 00:30:13.049
But now we\'ve got this narrow window.

00:30:13.050 --> 00:30:17.217
We have to begin to rapidly
move off of fossil fuels.

00:30:19.688 --> 00:30:22.021
If what they\'re proposing is

00:30:23.884 --> 00:30:25.717
what it appears to be,

00:30:27.576 --> 00:30:30.047
which is not much different
than Kyoto Protocol,

00:30:30.048 --> 00:30:33.242
allowing each country to
do whatever they want,

00:30:33.243 --> 00:30:35.326
cap and trade or nothing,

00:30:36.913 --> 00:30:39.413
then it\'s worthless, you know?

00:30:40.868 --> 00:30:45.035
We\'re wasting the one chance
that we have to really

00:30:46.074 --> 00:30:48.907
do something before it\'s too late.

00:30:51.535 --> 00:30:54.452
(percussive music)

00:30:58.938 --> 00:31:01.771
(crowd clamoring)

00:31:14.548 --> 00:31:16.131
- [Rauli] Two more.

00:31:21.312 --> 00:31:24.084
- [Cab Driver] What is this?

00:31:24.085 --> 00:31:25.502
- Books.
- Books.

00:31:29.253 --> 00:31:30.253
- Oh.

00:31:32.699 --> 00:31:34.899
- I just arrived here in Paris,

00:31:34.900 --> 00:31:37.917
I\'m here to give out 5000 copies

00:31:37.918 --> 00:31:42.085
of my and my co-author\'s
book, \"The Climate Gamble.\"

00:31:43.267 --> 00:31:46.844
I\'m staying here at the Place to B,

00:31:46.845 --> 00:31:50.875
there\'s like 500 activists staying there.

00:31:50.876 --> 00:31:54.626
Many of them seem to be
anti-this, anti-that.

00:31:55.549 --> 00:31:59.876
I\'m pretty sure that many of
them are also anti-nuclear,

00:31:59.877 --> 00:32:02.200
which our book is not.

00:32:02.201 --> 00:32:05.727
It\'s pro-nuclear,
pro-renewables, pro-efficiency,

00:32:05.728 --> 00:32:09.728
pro-evidence based solutions
for climate change.

00:32:13.753 --> 00:32:16.791
- These traditional
environmental movements are,

00:32:16.792 --> 00:32:20.294
at the very least, playing
this huge gamble right now.

00:32:20.295 --> 00:32:22.058
And that doesn\'t happen because

00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:23.940
they\'re bad people or stupid people

00:32:23.941 --> 00:32:25.222
because they are not,

00:32:25.223 --> 00:32:27.371
they are very decent, smart people,

00:32:27.372 --> 00:32:31.455
but the organizational DNA, so to speak,

00:32:31.456 --> 00:32:35.623
that they have inherited
is strongly anti-nuclear.

00:32:36.524 --> 00:32:38.221
The modern environmental movement is

00:32:38.222 --> 00:32:39.825
much of an outgrowth

00:32:39.826 --> 00:32:42.826
of this early anti-nuclear movement.

00:32:45.653 --> 00:32:48.029
- Nuclear is a hard sell.

00:32:48.030 --> 00:32:50.920
And ironically, some of the biggest foes

00:32:50.921 --> 00:32:53.279
are environmental organizations

00:32:53.280 --> 00:32:54.903
who have been using nuclear power

00:32:54.904 --> 00:32:57.521
as a whipping boy for
decades to raise funds

00:32:57.522 --> 00:32:59.268
and so it\'s very difficult for them.

00:32:59.269 --> 00:33:01.942
They\'ve kind of painted themselves into

00:33:01.943 --> 00:33:03.862
an anti-nuclear corner because

00:33:03.863 --> 00:33:05.293
they\'ve convinced so many people

00:33:05.294 --> 00:33:08.828
that it\'s a scary thing
and that we don\'t need it.

00:33:08.829 --> 00:33:09.829
- Enjoy.

00:33:10.704 --> 00:33:14.301
Oh, hey, can I interest you in free book?

00:33:14.302 --> 00:33:18.215
Excuse me, may I interest
you in a free book?

00:33:18.216 --> 00:33:21.599
- So are you guys nuclear advocates?

00:33:21.600 --> 00:33:24.153
- We are advocating for all the solutions,

00:33:24.154 --> 00:33:27.817
that we now need all
the tools that can have.

00:33:27.818 --> 00:33:30.533
Can I give you a free book?

00:33:30.534 --> 00:33:32.833
- Are you really putting
out a pro-nuclear message

00:33:32.834 --> 00:33:33.709
or an anti?

00:33:33.710 --> 00:33:35.006
- We are pro...

00:33:35.007 --> 00:33:36.891
- At Place to B I wasn\'t
really able to meet

00:33:36.892 --> 00:33:39.273
a lot of people who agreed with me

00:33:39.274 --> 00:33:41.544
that nuclear needed to be
a big part of the solution

00:33:41.545 --> 00:33:43.878
until I met Rauli and Janne.

00:33:45.187 --> 00:33:46.687
These guys get it.

00:33:48.755 --> 00:33:50.689
I\'m glad to do anything I can to help them

00:33:50.690 --> 00:33:52.440
succeed in that goal.

00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:58.250
(operatic music)

00:34:04.896 --> 00:34:08.597
♫ Listen, friends, to what I\'m saying

00:34:08.598 --> 00:34:12.765
♫ We must stop playing
with all our futures

00:34:13.734 --> 00:34:17.647
♫ This is the moment, this is the moment

00:34:17.648 --> 00:34:21.815
♫ When we all decide to
fight as one for the Earth

00:34:22.764 --> 00:34:26.935
♫ Time is wasting, we must be hasty

00:34:26.936 --> 00:34:31.581
♫ Or lose the chance to even decide at all

00:34:31.582 --> 00:34:35.760
♫ Tick tock, tick tock, our species clock

00:34:35.761 --> 00:34:39.928
♫ Winding down until there
are no more seconds left

00:34:42.025 --> 00:34:43.774
I realized pretty early on

00:34:43.775 --> 00:34:47.808
that a lot of public opinion
is vehemently against nuclear.

00:34:47.809 --> 00:34:49.228
I think what I\'ve learned is that

00:34:49.229 --> 00:34:51.170
if you don\'t give people a chance

00:34:51.171 --> 00:34:54.325
to learn about this technology
and change their mind,

00:34:54.326 --> 00:34:56.296
they never will.

00:34:56.297 --> 00:35:00.285
♫ Molten salt reactors

00:35:00.286 --> 00:35:04.453
♫ Hold tremendous
possibilities for humanity

00:35:09.520 --> 00:35:13.621
♫ And if we build them history will show

00:35:13.622 --> 00:35:16.180
♫ It was the right way to go

00:35:16.181 --> 00:35:19.848
♫ Thorium, thorium, thorium

00:35:34.284 --> 00:35:36.098
Merci, merci beaucoup.

00:35:36.099 --> 00:35:39.266
(audience applauding)

00:35:44.327 --> 00:35:47.388
- For all the challenges we face

00:35:47.389 --> 00:35:49.799
the growing threat of climate change

00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:51.845
could define the contours of this century

00:35:51.846 --> 00:35:54.596
more dramatically than any other.

00:35:56.254 --> 00:35:58.775
- [James] If we care about the future

00:35:58.776 --> 00:36:01.298
of our children, grandchildren,

00:36:01.299 --> 00:36:05.073
we had better not leave
it all to politicians.

00:36:05.074 --> 00:36:09.824
Scientists have an obligation
to say everything they know,

00:36:09.825 --> 00:36:13.992
not limited to what the
politicians want us to say.

00:36:15.754 --> 00:36:17.701
My three colleagues and I

00:36:17.702 --> 00:36:21.976
decided to try to help
the public understand

00:36:21.977 --> 00:36:24.589
the merits of nuclear power

00:36:24.590 --> 00:36:26.587
and the need for nuclear power

00:36:26.588 --> 00:36:30.337
if we\'re going to solve
the climate problem.

00:36:30.338 --> 00:36:32.358
- Hi everybody, thank you
so much for your patience,

00:36:32.359 --> 00:36:35.786
and welcome to our press conference.

00:36:35.787 --> 00:36:37.550
So it\'s my great honor this afternoon

00:36:37.551 --> 00:36:41.284
to introduce four of
the world\'s most famous

00:36:41.285 --> 00:36:44.420
and highly-regarded climate scientists.

00:36:44.421 --> 00:36:47.180
- Why are four climate scientists

00:36:47.181 --> 00:36:50.897
who don\'t have strong
backgrounds in nuclear physics,

00:36:50.898 --> 00:36:54.817
here talking to you today
about nuclear energy?

00:36:54.818 --> 00:36:58.277
It\'s because we\'re scientists
and we can do the math.

00:36:58.278 --> 00:37:02.842
If we truly are sincere
about solving this problem,

00:37:02.843 --> 00:37:04.760
unless a miracle occurs

00:37:06.060 --> 00:37:10.746
we are going to have to ramp
up nuclear energy very fast.

00:37:10.747 --> 00:37:11.816
That\'s the reality.

00:37:11.817 --> 00:37:13.690
The numbers don\'t add up

00:37:13.691 --> 00:37:17.375
unless you put nuclear power in the mix.

00:37:17.376 --> 00:37:19.372
- You know, we\'re not
promoting nuclear energy,

00:37:19.373 --> 00:37:22.216
we\'re promoting a level playing field.

00:37:22.217 --> 00:37:25.292
We have to give a fair
and balanced assessment,

00:37:25.293 --> 00:37:28.376
eschewing ideology and preconceptions

00:37:29.716 --> 00:37:31.457
to decide on what the energy strategy

00:37:31.458 --> 00:37:34.102
should be for the future.

00:37:34.103 --> 00:37:36.413
- [Host] We have a question over here.

00:37:36.414 --> 00:37:37.822
- Thank you very much, good afternoon,

00:37:37.823 --> 00:37:39.054
I simply want to say that

00:37:39.055 --> 00:37:41.379
your defiance towards renewables

00:37:41.380 --> 00:37:43.950
and your confidence towards nuclear power

00:37:43.951 --> 00:37:44.951
is kind of,

00:37:46.443 --> 00:37:50.078
the opposite of the current dynamics

00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:52.996
to deliver carbon-free electricity.

00:37:54.436 --> 00:37:55.960
- Let me just throw in
one thing to say that

00:37:55.961 --> 00:37:59.124
it\'s not only nuclear that needs to

00:37:59.125 --> 00:38:00.898
scale up extremely rapidly,

00:38:00.899 --> 00:38:03.170
but it\'s also solar and wind.

00:38:03.171 --> 00:38:05.504
To solve the climate problem

00:38:06.608 --> 00:38:09.531
we need to scale up every
technology that makes sense

00:38:09.532 --> 00:38:11.238
as fast as we can.

00:38:11.239 --> 00:38:15.509
But the goal is not to make
a renewable energy system,

00:38:15.510 --> 00:38:17.074
the goal is to make the most

00:38:17.075 --> 00:38:21.028
environmentally advantageous
energy system we can

00:38:21.029 --> 00:38:23.906
while providing us with affordable power.

00:38:23.907 --> 00:38:27.477
And there\'s really only one
technology that I know of

00:38:27.478 --> 00:38:29.933
that can provide carbon-free power

00:38:29.934 --> 00:38:32.580
when the sun\'s not shining
and the wind\'s not blowing,

00:38:32.581 --> 00:38:35.276
at the scale that modern
civilization requires,

00:38:35.277 --> 00:38:37.894
and that\'s nuclear power.

00:38:37.895 --> 00:38:41.338
- You know, I\'d like to
emphasize that China and India

00:38:41.339 --> 00:38:45.176
are using tremendous amounts of power,

00:38:45.177 --> 00:38:47.967
almost all coal, for
their electric plants.

00:38:47.968 --> 00:38:51.009
And there\'s no way that they
can power their steel mills,

00:38:51.010 --> 00:38:53.353
and all the other factories
that they\'re building

00:38:53.354 --> 00:38:56.706
products for us, on solar panels.

00:38:56.707 --> 00:38:58.850
And they know that

00:38:58.851 --> 00:39:02.812
and for the West not
to help them is immoral

00:39:02.813 --> 00:39:07.269
because we burned their
share of the carbon budget.

00:39:07.270 --> 00:39:10.023
You know, I would argue
that what we\'re gonna find

00:39:10.024 --> 00:39:13.441
is that China is going to develop nuclear

00:39:16.314 --> 00:39:19.064
and it will find a market for it.

00:39:20.920 --> 00:39:23.988
And we\'re wasting an opportunity

00:39:23.989 --> 00:39:26.572
if we don\'t develop our technology.

00:39:26.573 --> 00:39:28.030
- [Host] Thank you.

00:39:28.031 --> 00:39:31.198
(audience applauding)

00:39:39.428 --> 00:39:43.110
- Well China is really
going great guns on nuclear.

00:39:43.111 --> 00:39:45.728
It\'s really the largest nuclear builder

00:39:45.729 --> 00:39:48.173
in the world right now.

00:39:48.174 --> 00:39:50.754
They can do that because they
can mobilize the capital,

00:39:50.755 --> 00:39:52.682
they can build stuff quickly,

00:39:52.683 --> 00:39:55.373
they have a massive
construction capability,

00:39:55.374 --> 00:39:59.541
and the government can just
mandate that to happen.

00:40:00.521 --> 00:40:03.540
China\'s a society,
unlike the United States,

00:40:03.541 --> 00:40:05.542
that still has some sense of direction

00:40:05.543 --> 00:40:08.497
as to where they want to go on energy.

00:40:08.498 --> 00:40:11.103
To be honest, in the United
States it\'s all about,

00:40:11.104 --> 00:40:12.978
well, maybe we\'ll do
something 10 years from now

00:40:12.979 --> 00:40:15.339
and maybe 20 years from
now we\'ll actually have

00:40:15.340 --> 00:40:17.590
a working advanced reactor.

00:40:20.106 --> 00:40:23.041
- The US doesn\'t have a
coherent long-term energy policy

00:40:23.042 --> 00:40:25.361
where you would make choices like,

00:40:25.362 --> 00:40:27.833
what percentage of our system
is going to be nuclear?

00:40:27.834 --> 00:40:29.643
What percentage is
going to be natural gas?

00:40:29.644 --> 00:40:31.045
What percentage will be renewables?

00:40:31.046 --> 00:40:33.967
And then we need to innovate
and build up our capacities

00:40:33.968 --> 00:40:35.801
to meet those targets.

00:40:36.824 --> 00:40:39.916
So instead what we have
is utilities and markets

00:40:39.917 --> 00:40:42.003
making the decision where they\'re saying,

00:40:42.004 --> 00:40:43.797
hey, we have cheap natural gas right now,

00:40:43.798 --> 00:40:46.181
so let\'s build more natural gas plants,

00:40:46.182 --> 00:40:47.884
and let\'s shut down our nuclear plants

00:40:47.885 --> 00:40:51.218
because right now they\'re too expensive.

00:40:52.144 --> 00:40:54.904
- That vision of the
future is something that,

00:40:54.905 --> 00:40:56.809
I think we\'ve lost it.

00:40:56.810 --> 00:40:59.400
We\'ve lost the desire to
look over the horizon.

00:40:59.401 --> 00:41:02.769
Desire to make things better in the future

00:41:02.770 --> 00:41:05.020
and I think we focus a lot more on

00:41:05.021 --> 00:41:06.657
what\'s happening today?

00:41:06.658 --> 00:41:07.825
How do we keep what we have?

00:41:07.826 --> 00:41:12.532
As opposed to, how do we
make the future better?

00:41:12.533 --> 00:41:14.356
- There seems to be the support for

00:41:14.357 --> 00:41:17.721
advanced reactor technology in the US,

00:41:17.722 --> 00:41:22.398
but I think the biggest
obstacle by far is just inertia.

00:41:22.399 --> 00:41:26.566
It just take a while to cause
a significant shift in vision.

00:41:29.046 --> 00:41:32.650
Nuclear is a very heavily
regulated industry.

00:41:32.651 --> 00:41:34.884
The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission in the US

00:41:34.885 --> 00:41:36.991
is the gold standard worldwide,

00:41:36.992 --> 00:41:40.107
but their regulations currently only apply

00:41:40.108 --> 00:41:42.754
to the conventional
light-water reactor designs.

00:41:42.755 --> 00:41:44.752
There\'s no framework to bring

00:41:44.753 --> 00:41:49.067
any of the advanced
reactor designs to market.

00:41:49.068 --> 00:41:51.348
- The biggest hurdle
between where we are now

00:41:51.349 --> 00:41:53.461
and actually building a reactor

00:41:53.462 --> 00:41:57.212
is getting that licensing
framework in place.

00:41:58.946 --> 00:42:01.621
- There are these uncertainties,
these worries about,

00:42:01.622 --> 00:42:04.274
well, how long will it take
to get something licensed?

00:42:04.275 --> 00:42:06.595
How long will it take to get certified?

00:42:06.596 --> 00:42:09.215
What will the regulator insist on?

00:42:09.216 --> 00:42:10.994
And there\'s a lot of people who say that

00:42:10.995 --> 00:42:13.513
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
in the United States

00:42:13.514 --> 00:42:14.915
is a barrier to innovation

00:42:14.916 --> 00:42:17.305
because it costs so much to do things.

00:42:17.306 --> 00:42:20.533
Well, you know, the government could fund

00:42:20.534 --> 00:42:22.201
NRC to do that work,

00:42:23.417 --> 00:42:24.667
but it doesn\'t.

00:42:25.766 --> 00:42:27.972
And that\'s a political decision.

00:42:27.973 --> 00:42:28.999
That\'s something, I think,

00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.833
that policymakers have to look at.

00:42:33.201 --> 00:42:35.633
- Remember when we were
here in the cherry blossoms?

00:42:35.634 --> 00:42:36.634
- Yeah.

00:42:37.354 --> 00:42:39.943
So the regulator is neutral.

00:42:39.944 --> 00:42:42.581
And we just realized that
we need to make a design

00:42:42.582 --> 00:42:46.124
that can go through
this regulatory process.

00:42:46.125 --> 00:42:48.482
Everything is geared around getting enough

00:42:48.483 --> 00:42:49.895
testing or simulation data

00:42:49.896 --> 00:42:51.754
to prove beyond a reasonable doubt

00:42:51.755 --> 00:42:53.768
that the reactor would operate safely,

00:42:53.769 --> 00:42:56.519
not present a risk to the public.

00:42:58.391 --> 00:42:59.887
- I want to thank you
for holding this hearing

00:42:59.888 --> 00:43:02.839
and for giving me the
opportunity to testify.

00:43:02.840 --> 00:43:05.000
We started this company because we believe

00:43:05.001 --> 00:43:07.136
advanced reactors will be
a significant part of the

00:43:07.137 --> 00:43:09.997
energy mix of the future.

00:43:09.998 --> 00:43:11.873
And we wanted to make
that future a reality

00:43:11.874 --> 00:43:13.317
as quickly as we could.

00:43:13.318 --> 00:43:14.992
We laud the recent work done

00:43:14.993 --> 00:43:17.251
by the Department of Energy
and by this committee,

00:43:17.252 --> 00:43:19.031
these are crucial steps to help us seize

00:43:19.032 --> 00:43:20.804
the tremendous opportunities
in front of us,

00:43:20.805 --> 00:43:22.001
to advance nuclear power

00:43:22.002 --> 00:43:24.399
and also the massive
opportunities that we have

00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:28.400
to be the leader at the
global stage, thank you.

00:43:36.167 --> 00:43:38.985
Starting a company in nuclear is hard.

00:43:38.986 --> 00:43:40.285
But if you start small

00:43:40.286 --> 00:43:42.456
and make some of that
stuff more manageable,

00:43:42.457 --> 00:43:44.068
and then we can get bigger from there

00:43:44.069 --> 00:43:46.206
after we get our feet under us.

00:43:46.207 --> 00:43:47.702
So that when we start doing it on-grid,

00:43:47.703 --> 00:43:49.009
we can be cheaper than coal,

00:43:49.010 --> 00:43:50.244
we can be cheaper than fossil,

00:43:50.245 --> 00:43:53.040
we can be the cheapest
source of energy we can.

00:43:53.041 --> 00:43:54.745
And ultimately, that\'s the only way

00:43:54.746 --> 00:43:56.913
you displace fossil fuels.

00:43:58.828 --> 00:44:00.784
- [Caroline] We are working
on our first reactor,

00:44:00.785 --> 00:44:03.444
but it\'s not our only reactor.

00:44:03.445 --> 00:44:05.239
So this is our first product,

00:44:05.240 --> 00:44:06.962
we see it as kind of the tip on the spear

00:44:06.963 --> 00:44:08.959
to get thought the
nuclear regulatory process

00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:12.627
in kind of the simplest
way we see possible.

00:44:13.725 --> 00:44:15.708
So I guess I\'d say that, you know,

00:44:15.709 --> 00:44:17.959
this is just the beginning.

00:44:29.714 --> 00:44:31.803
- Nice to meet you too, welcome.

00:44:31.804 --> 00:44:33.298
Come on in.

00:44:33.299 --> 00:44:36.466
We are gonna get you set up and then...

00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:39.239
- Hi.

00:44:40.413 --> 00:44:41.874
- Hi, I\'m Emmy.

00:44:41.875 --> 00:44:43.537
Thank you so much for your work.

00:44:43.538 --> 00:44:45.384
- Yeah, we just want to say
thank you for your work.

00:44:45.385 --> 00:44:46.736
- Well what are you, what\'s your business?

00:44:46.737 --> 00:44:49.813
- I\'m a genetics and a
cognitive science major

00:44:49.814 --> 00:44:53.302
and I\'m minoring in music
because it\'s awesome.

00:44:53.303 --> 00:44:56.316
- And I\'m a social work graduate student.

00:44:56.317 --> 00:44:59.484
_ Yeah, I really want young people to,

00:45:00.467 --> 00:45:03.601
if you don\'t understand what is needed,

00:45:03.602 --> 00:45:08.361
then the politicians, they
find the easy way out.

00:45:08.362 --> 00:45:09.579
It\'s a problem.

00:45:09.580 --> 00:45:12.072
- [Genetics Major] It\'s mind boggling.

00:45:12.073 --> 00:45:15.198
- Yeah, and part of the problem, though,

00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:17.516
is we haven\'t been asking them

00:45:17.517 --> 00:45:19.350
to do the right thing.

00:45:21.548 --> 00:45:24.092
- Jim is, we\'ll be happy to have questions

00:45:24.093 --> 00:45:27.676
and we\'d like to start
with students first.

00:45:28.688 --> 00:45:30.828
- Hello, my name is Sarah,

00:45:30.829 --> 00:45:33.445
I\'m a high school senior at
Highland Park High School.

00:45:33.446 --> 00:45:34.960
- Hello, my name is Sophia,

00:45:34.961 --> 00:45:36.455
I\'m a high school freshman

00:45:36.456 --> 00:45:38.462
in the neighboring town of Highland Park.

00:45:38.463 --> 00:45:39.796
- My name is Hannah Morrin,

00:45:39.797 --> 00:45:42.506
I\'m a senior at Hopwell
Valley Central High School.

00:45:42.507 --> 00:45:44.750
- My name is Natalie
and I\'m a sixth grader.

00:45:44.751 --> 00:45:45.992
So my question is,

00:45:45.993 --> 00:45:48.653
what can we do to raise
awareness in young people,

00:45:48.654 --> 00:45:49.999
because they\'re the
ones who are going to be

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.094
taking the responsibility in the future?

00:45:52.095 --> 00:45:53.865
What can we do to raise
awareness in young people

00:45:53.866 --> 00:45:57.166
about the dangers of human activity

00:45:57.167 --> 00:46:02.033
and the effects they have
upon biodiversity on Earth?

00:46:02.034 --> 00:46:04.918
- Yeah, well, that\'s a good question about

00:46:04.919 --> 00:46:07.002
what can young people do?

00:46:08.334 --> 00:46:12.859
I don\'t at all want to
discourage individual actions,

00:46:12.860 --> 00:46:15.598
I just want to warn you that

00:46:15.599 --> 00:46:18.091
you\'ve got to also hit the politicians

00:46:18.092 --> 00:46:20.538
and make them do what is needed

00:46:20.539 --> 00:46:22.905
on a national and global basis.

00:46:22.906 --> 00:46:26.514
It\'s not enough for young people to say

00:46:26.515 --> 00:46:29.013
we want you solve the problem.

00:46:29.014 --> 00:46:30.381
The young people also have to

00:46:30.382 --> 00:46:33.806
understand something about what is needed.

00:46:33.807 --> 00:46:36.057
Politicians will sometimes,

00:46:37.144 --> 00:46:40.440
well, you know, you\'ve got to help them.

00:46:40.441 --> 00:46:42.441
I don\'t know, it\'s hard.

00:46:43.581 --> 00:46:46.498
(crowd chattering)

00:46:48.584 --> 00:46:52.628
You know, there are some
advantages of being old.

00:46:52.629 --> 00:46:54.802
You\'ve had enough experiences that you

00:46:54.803 --> 00:46:57.350
can have a perspective
which you didn\'t have

00:46:57.351 --> 00:46:59.934
when you were a younger person.

00:47:02.727 --> 00:47:05.600
I worked for decades for the

00:47:05.601 --> 00:47:08.079
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration.

00:47:08.080 --> 00:47:11.580
I spent 10 years studying the planet Venus

00:47:13.425 --> 00:47:16.798
and proposing an experiment to go to Venus

00:47:16.799 --> 00:47:21.238
and began to realize that this
planet that we\'re living on

00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:24.826
is in some ways more
interesting that Venus

00:47:24.827 --> 00:47:28.827
because this planet is
changing before our eyes.

00:47:30.601 --> 00:47:33.882
I was reluctant to be involved
in the public discussion

00:47:33.883 --> 00:47:36.920
in terms of trying to describe

00:47:36.921 --> 00:47:40.277
what are the implications of the science?

00:47:40.278 --> 00:47:44.445
But eventually I decided to
try to make the story clearer.

00:47:46.785 --> 00:47:50.520
Baring a remarkable
and improbable cooling,

00:47:50.521 --> 00:47:53.854
1988 will be warmest year on the record.

00:47:56.583 --> 00:47:58.735
This evidence represents
a very strong case,

00:47:58.736 --> 00:48:00.561
in my opinion, that the greenhouse effect

00:48:00.562 --> 00:48:04.729
has been detected and it is
changing our climate now.

00:48:14.660 --> 00:48:17.327
Well there was a lot of reaction

00:48:18.610 --> 00:48:20.228
and publicity associated with that

00:48:20.229 --> 00:48:22.416
and I tried to back out of that

00:48:22.417 --> 00:48:24.935
because I preferred to do the science.

00:48:24.936 --> 00:48:27.436
And so I tried for decades to,

00:48:29.029 --> 00:48:31.362
to stay out of the politics.

00:48:37.257 --> 00:48:40.646
It was only in 2004 that I decided

00:48:40.647 --> 00:48:43.397
to get back in the communication.

00:48:47.515 --> 00:48:49.047
And when I was asked,

00:48:49.048 --> 00:48:51.728
well, why are you doing
this now, 15 years later?

00:48:51.729 --> 00:48:55.020
I said well, I didn\'t want
my grandchildren to say

00:48:55.021 --> 00:48:58.128
that Opa understood what was happening,

00:48:58.129 --> 00:49:00.614
but he didn\'t make it clear.

00:49:00.615 --> 00:49:03.365
(crowd cheering)

00:49:05.744 --> 00:49:08.119
You know, I tried to do what I can do,

00:49:08.120 --> 00:49:09.620
but it\'s not easy.

00:49:12.152 --> 00:49:15.214
Because the fact is, it\'s just a matter of

00:49:15.215 --> 00:49:19.555
which generation is
going to feel the brunt

00:49:19.556 --> 00:49:22.877
of the changes that will be coming

00:49:22.878 --> 00:49:27.045
unless we begin to rapidly
reduce fossil fuel emissions.

00:49:41.553 --> 00:49:43.315
- There was some great things that we did

00:49:43.316 --> 00:49:44.992
while we were in Cambridge and Boston.

00:49:44.993 --> 00:49:46.837
But just recently we realized that

00:49:46.838 --> 00:49:49.674
California is where we need to be.

00:49:49.675 --> 00:49:51.963
Living in Silicon Valley is inspiring.

00:49:51.964 --> 00:49:54.060
It\'s \'cause they\'re
good at doing start-ups

00:49:54.061 --> 00:49:55.960
and doing tech and turning around

00:49:55.961 --> 00:49:57.961
and making huge impacts.

00:49:59.301 --> 00:50:00.952
It\'s ambitious to look at energy

00:50:00.953 --> 00:50:03.772
because it is the biggest
market in the world.

00:50:03.773 --> 00:50:06.481
So the potential impact I
think nuclear could have

00:50:06.482 --> 00:50:07.649
could be huge.

00:50:08.658 --> 00:50:10.085
It\'s kind of bold to say that,

00:50:10.086 --> 00:50:11.939
but it\'s really true.

00:50:11.940 --> 00:50:13.346
There\'s big things happening

00:50:13.347 --> 00:50:15.037
and there\'s a lot to learn from

00:50:15.038 --> 00:50:17.617
and that\'s exactly why we\'re here.

00:50:17.618 --> 00:50:18.822
A lot of people aren\'t familiar with,

00:50:18.823 --> 00:50:20.663
there is kind of a legacy here

00:50:20.664 --> 00:50:22.534
and it\'s really cool.

00:50:22.535 --> 00:50:25.943
GE started the first power
producing nuclear plant,

00:50:25.944 --> 00:50:28.438
was a five megawatt reactor

00:50:28.439 --> 00:50:30.933
and it was just about 45
minutes away from here.

00:50:30.934 --> 00:50:34.432
It\'s crazy, this happened in the 1950s

00:50:34.433 --> 00:50:35.974
and we can start like that,

00:50:35.975 --> 00:50:37.552
we can do it here in California

00:50:37.553 --> 00:50:39.897
and we can do it with all
the added tech benefits

00:50:39.898 --> 00:50:43.460
that there all nowadays in Silicon Valley.

00:50:43.461 --> 00:50:45.296
- So it\'s neat to see the walls up,

00:50:45.297 --> 00:50:47.818
\'cause last time we were here, you know,

00:50:47.819 --> 00:50:48.652
we just talked about the space.

00:50:48.653 --> 00:50:50.776
So now we can see how
it\'s all coming together.

00:50:50.777 --> 00:50:51.990
- How many employees?

00:50:51.991 --> 00:50:55.760
- Um, right now we\'ll have,
probably, five out here,

00:50:55.761 --> 00:50:57.144
not long after we move in,

00:50:57.145 --> 00:50:59.364
so within, like, the first couple weeks.

00:50:59.365 --> 00:51:03.458
And then we\'ll hopefully grow
that to about 10 in the near...

00:51:03.459 --> 00:51:05.200
- [Caroline] Our main
priority right now is safety.

00:51:05.201 --> 00:51:09.021
And we\'ve been worried that
different types of regulations

00:51:09.022 --> 00:51:10.950
would limit us on what
kinds of technologies

00:51:10.951 --> 00:51:13.531
we could use, or kind of
make it more difficult.

00:51:13.532 --> 00:51:17.313
- Ultimately the way that
all regulatory bodies

00:51:17.314 --> 00:51:18.954
look at this is they say, okay,
it\'s a new reactor concept,

00:51:18.955 --> 00:51:21.779
so you can show us all the

00:51:21.780 --> 00:51:23.239
great computer simulations you want,

00:51:23.240 --> 00:51:25.321
but right now, we still need some kind of

00:51:25.322 --> 00:51:26.698
hard, physical data to support

00:51:26.699 --> 00:51:29.660
what your computer
simulations say is happening.

00:51:29.661 --> 00:51:32.047
So our view is, okay, let\'s do that.

00:51:32.048 --> 00:51:34.678
When we were looking at it

00:51:34.679 --> 00:51:36.572
we came to appreciate all
the great work that was done

00:51:36.573 --> 00:51:39.025
with the fast test reactors
we had in this country

00:51:39.026 --> 00:51:43.193
and what was demonstrated at
the National Laboratories.

00:51:45.733 --> 00:51:47.655
- Idaho National Laboratory is one of 17

00:51:47.656 --> 00:51:50.569
Department of Energy
National Laboratories.

00:51:50.570 --> 00:51:52.027
Most of the laboratories have grown out of

00:51:52.028 --> 00:51:54.216
the Manhattan Project.

00:51:54.217 --> 00:51:55.782
Right, so that was a
project that, of course,

00:51:55.783 --> 00:51:59.216
during World War II to create
the first nuclear weapons.

00:51:59.217 --> 00:52:00.336
But coming out of that was

00:52:00.337 --> 00:52:01.968
this incredible research capability

00:52:01.969 --> 00:52:04.872
that then grew into the broader
energy research capability

00:52:04.873 --> 00:52:08.397
that the National Labs are today.

00:52:08.398 --> 00:52:11.588
- There\'s a huge wealth
of knowledge and expertise

00:52:11.589 --> 00:52:13.557
at the US National Labs

00:52:13.558 --> 00:52:16.032
where they did really
crazy, innovative things

00:52:16.033 --> 00:52:18.840
during the \'60s and \'70s and \'80s.

00:52:18.841 --> 00:52:21.758
All that experience is still there.

00:52:30.312 --> 00:52:33.638
- [John] I was working on the IFR program,

00:52:33.639 --> 00:52:35.953
the integral fast reactor,

00:52:35.954 --> 00:52:37.454
from 1970 to 2004.

00:52:40.429 --> 00:52:43.020
- There were some 87 tests that were run

00:52:43.021 --> 00:52:45.271
over a course of two years.

00:52:47.945 --> 00:52:50.945
Both Chernobyl and Three Mile Island

00:52:51.823 --> 00:52:56.265
would not have happened
with this kind of reactor.

00:52:56.266 --> 00:52:58.794
In the end, we showed that

00:52:58.795 --> 00:53:02.183
the most severe accidents that can happen

00:53:02.184 --> 00:53:04.600
could be done safely

00:53:04.601 --> 00:53:08.268
and without damage to
the reactor\'s systems.

00:53:09.401 --> 00:53:12.525
And that was the final
demonstration that we did

00:53:12.526 --> 00:53:14.359
in about 30 years ago.

00:53:23.617 --> 00:53:26.480
- One of the great ironies
of recent years is that

00:53:26.481 --> 00:53:30.689
one of the most promising nuclear options,

00:53:30.690 --> 00:53:34.527
the integral fast reactor,
was in development,

00:53:34.528 --> 00:53:38.195
was showing very strong
performance criteria

00:53:40.104 --> 00:53:41.962
and then it was stopped!

00:53:41.963 --> 00:53:44.123
Stopped in 1994.

00:53:44.124 --> 00:53:47.931
And you go back and
ask, why was it stopped?

00:53:47.932 --> 00:53:49.650
Nobody knows!

00:53:49.651 --> 00:53:52.074
Well, nuclear, eh, Three Mile Island,

00:53:52.075 --> 00:53:54.408
we should stop, not so good.

00:53:55.764 --> 00:53:58.183
And many, many engineers look back

00:53:58.184 --> 00:54:00.919
and say why did we stop?

00:54:00.920 --> 00:54:03.901
This is one of the most
promising ways forward

00:54:03.902 --> 00:54:05.819
for nuclear technology.

00:54:07.440 --> 00:54:11.588
- The decision was
political and I remember,

00:54:11.589 --> 00:54:15.142
I met with each of the
operating crews personally.

00:54:15.143 --> 00:54:17.560
To a person the response was,

00:54:18.934 --> 00:54:22.851
doesn\'t the country know
what it\'s losing here?

00:54:24.405 --> 00:54:27.020
But we don\'t despair at the shutdown

00:54:27.021 --> 00:54:29.574
because the technology is there.

00:54:29.575 --> 00:54:31.386
And I think you\'ll see

00:54:31.387 --> 00:54:33.574
that people will be discovering that,

00:54:33.575 --> 00:54:36.753
especially young entrepreneurs,

00:54:36.754 --> 00:54:38.380
and bringing it to the fold.

00:54:38.381 --> 00:54:39.742
The information is all there

00:54:39.743 --> 00:54:42.826
and available to the new generations.

00:54:47.571 --> 00:54:49.878
- [Caroline] What\'s old is new, right?

00:54:49.879 --> 00:54:51.964
I think it\'s great to
keep that perspective

00:54:51.965 --> 00:54:54.642
because we\'re not doing
something entirely new

00:54:54.643 --> 00:54:56.227
so much as continuing something that was

00:54:56.228 --> 00:54:58.811
already really, really awesome.

00:54:59.760 --> 00:55:01.841
- John kinda ran through
what he had done, Sonya,

00:55:01.842 --> 00:55:04.162
and got a sense on the Alaska market size,

00:55:04.163 --> 00:55:05.410
so some specifics on that.

00:55:05.411 --> 00:55:08.227
- And you know, though,
were working on islands,

00:55:08.228 --> 00:55:09.249
- Yeah.
- And stuff.

00:55:09.250 --> 00:55:10.508
Do you want to go over that too,

00:55:10.509 --> 00:55:12.062
or just
- That\'s a good point.

00:55:12.063 --> 00:55:14.625
- Assuming, like, basically
the same thing applies,

00:55:14.626 --> 00:55:16.526
what are the communities
that are most likely?

00:55:16.527 --> 00:55:20.083
And then what\'s the total
amount of payments on diesel?

00:55:20.084 --> 00:55:20.956
- The other question, Sonya,

00:55:20.957 --> 00:55:22.666
is which of these places is best to visit,

00:55:22.667 --> 00:55:23.886
that\'s another big factor.

00:55:23.887 --> 00:55:25.215
(laughing)

00:55:25.216 --> 00:55:28.651
- Where can we set up that second house?

00:55:28.652 --> 00:55:30.906
The Oklo tropical office?

00:55:30.907 --> 00:55:33.113
- Alaska\'s nice, you just need to go

00:55:33.114 --> 00:55:35.281
in the next couple months.

00:55:36.567 --> 00:55:37.912
Outside of these,

00:55:37.913 --> 00:55:39.950
what would be the other
directions you\'d go

00:55:39.951 --> 00:55:42.609
or would you suggest that we, kind of,

00:55:42.610 --> 00:55:44.148
cut it off there for now?

00:55:44.149 --> 00:55:45.640
- Canada\'s probably a good place to,

00:55:45.641 --> 00:55:48.015
sort of, come to a,
coast to a stop for now.

00:55:48.016 --> 00:55:49.325
I don\'t know if there\'s,

00:55:49.326 --> 00:55:51.641
like, these are the two
main areas, I think.

00:55:51.642 --> 00:55:55.170
I think the story in Africa\'s interesting,

00:55:55.171 --> 00:55:56.942
but I feel like it\'s kinda, it\'s not

00:55:56.943 --> 00:56:00.188
soon or near-term enough right now

00:56:00.189 --> 00:56:02.106
to look in to too much.

00:56:07.468 --> 00:56:10.051
(gentle music)

00:56:21.991 --> 00:56:23.858
- As a development economist

00:56:23.859 --> 00:56:25.771
I work in a lot of places in the world

00:56:25.772 --> 00:56:27.804
that don\'t have electricity.

00:56:27.805 --> 00:56:29.931
That\'s pure tragedy.

00:56:29.932 --> 00:56:32.028
That\'s watching children die,

00:56:32.029 --> 00:56:34.203
that\'s watching clinics
that can\'t function,

00:56:34.204 --> 00:56:36.968
that\'s watching schools that don\'t work

00:56:36.969 --> 00:56:39.636
because there\'s no power source.

00:56:41.534 --> 00:56:43.758
And we use the term energy poverty

00:56:43.759 --> 00:56:47.531
to signify that you
don\'t have modern energy

00:56:47.532 --> 00:56:49.199
for daily functions.

00:56:52.735 --> 00:56:55.888
- Today I would say
about 1.4 billion people

00:56:55.889 --> 00:56:58.722
do not have access to electricity.

00:57:00.632 --> 00:57:05.085
And somewhere about two
and a half to three billion

00:57:05.086 --> 00:57:09.253
do not have access to a
clean, modern cooking fuel.

00:57:15.583 --> 00:57:18.154
- One big issue that
developing countries have

00:57:18.155 --> 00:57:21.720
is that they lack capital and doing

00:57:21.721 --> 00:57:25.012
huge infrastructure projects
is very, very difficult.

00:57:25.013 --> 00:57:28.634
So it\'s really necessary,
especially in rural areas,

00:57:28.635 --> 00:57:31.756
to figure out creative and innovative ways

00:57:31.757 --> 00:57:33.674
to get power to people.

00:57:35.695 --> 00:57:38.547
Here they have lots and lots of sunlight,

00:57:38.548 --> 00:57:40.965
so solar is great in Senegal.

00:57:43.332 --> 00:57:45.929
This system is shared among seven farmers

00:57:45.930 --> 00:57:49.381
and even though this is a
relatively small amount of power,

00:57:49.382 --> 00:57:52.882
it completely changes everything for them.

00:58:22.828 --> 00:58:24.831
- This is about a five kilowatt array

00:58:24.832 --> 00:58:27.572
and you need about
100,000 of these to equal

00:58:27.573 --> 00:58:31.622
a 500 megawatt utility sized power plant.

00:58:31.623 --> 00:58:34.675
But even the smaller systems like this

00:58:34.676 --> 00:58:37.219
have a very important
place to play in the future

00:58:37.220 --> 00:58:39.105
as far as electrifying rural populations

00:58:39.106 --> 00:58:41.437
of developing countries.

00:58:41.438 --> 00:58:44.662
This is like a first
step in the energy ladder

00:58:44.663 --> 00:58:46.330
for a lot of people.

00:58:49.624 --> 00:58:52.289
- But now you come to Dakar,

00:58:52.290 --> 00:58:54.616
it\'s a large city, growing city.

00:58:54.617 --> 00:58:56.689
And with a million people,

00:58:56.690 --> 00:59:00.689
it will need electricity \'round the clock

00:59:00.690 --> 00:59:03.523
whether the sun is shining or not.

00:59:05.904 --> 00:59:09.411
So many places in Africa definitely need

00:59:09.412 --> 00:59:13.412
a low cost, reliable,
carbon-neutral power plant

00:59:15.061 --> 00:59:18.741
that provides electricity 24/7.

00:59:18.742 --> 00:59:22.117
Nuclear offers us one the best options

00:59:22.118 --> 00:59:25.118
we have to do that kind of baseload.

00:59:31.071 --> 00:59:32.639
- I have a strong interest in getting

00:59:32.640 --> 00:59:34.094
the price of energy lower,

00:59:34.095 --> 00:59:38.756
because of looking at
the lives of the poorest.

00:59:38.757 --> 00:59:42.509
You know, there\'s a lot of
things we take for granted,

00:59:42.510 --> 00:59:45.330
that by 2100 should be available

00:59:45.331 --> 00:59:46.955
to everyone on the planet.

00:59:46.956 --> 00:59:49.491
So we need affordable energy.

00:59:49.492 --> 00:59:51.456
That\'s why, you know, I\'m investing

00:59:51.457 --> 00:59:53.874
in a nuclear fission company.

00:59:55.668 --> 00:59:57.981
- What Bill Gates and his fellow investors

00:59:57.982 --> 00:59:59.403
are doing here is,

00:59:59.404 --> 01:00:02.042
there\'s never been
anything like it before.

01:00:02.043 --> 01:00:06.270
This is a private
citizens trying to design

01:00:06.271 --> 01:00:09.938
and build a new technology,
nuclear reactor.

01:00:11.044 --> 01:00:12.526
- TerraPower fits in really well

01:00:12.527 --> 01:00:15.673
with what Bill Gates is trying to do.

01:00:15.674 --> 01:00:18.723
You know, it\'s one of those
things that has some risk to it,

01:00:18.724 --> 01:00:20.892
takes a lot of work, but
it\'s the kind of thing

01:00:20.893 --> 01:00:25.515
that can really help with
the worlds\' energy problems.

01:00:25.516 --> 01:00:27.822
The thing with nuclear and
the reason I never anticipated

01:00:27.823 --> 01:00:30.028
the private startup companies,

01:00:30.029 --> 01:00:32.607
is that the development,
especially for advanced reactors,

01:00:32.608 --> 01:00:33.909
it\'s a big investment.

01:00:33.910 --> 01:00:36.860
You know, the radiation
tests take years to do.

01:00:36.861 --> 01:00:39.737
So it really takes someone
with a really long horizons,

01:00:39.738 --> 01:00:41.376
who is really looking
to improve the world,

01:00:41.377 --> 01:00:44.710
in a way that may take a very long time.

01:00:48.322 --> 01:00:51.498
- This is the location
of our new lab facility.

01:00:51.499 --> 01:00:53.090
We are moving from the paper reactor

01:00:53.091 --> 01:00:54.793
to doing small scale testing,

01:00:54.794 --> 01:00:56.677
and this is really big
step for our company

01:00:56.678 --> 01:00:59.510
going into the industrial-type scale,

01:00:59.511 --> 01:01:02.325
commercial-type scale testing.

01:01:02.326 --> 01:01:06.334
This is our new lab space we\'ve built out.

01:01:06.335 --> 01:01:08.645
This was a big, empty
room four months ago.

01:01:08.646 --> 01:01:10.670
So this is something we\'ve custom designed

01:01:10.671 --> 01:01:13.577
to support our testing here.

01:01:13.578 --> 01:01:16.568
If you look over here,
you see this big pit

01:01:16.569 --> 01:01:19.271
which our 5-ton bridge train
will be coming in here shortly,

01:01:19.272 --> 01:01:21.641
and what will be going
in above that pit there

01:01:21.642 --> 01:01:25.059
is an example here of a full size bundle.

01:01:26.409 --> 01:01:28.578
So, we\'re actually in
full-scale testing for this

01:01:28.579 --> 01:01:33.079
it\'s not a small base-type
scale, thanks guys.

01:01:33.080 --> 01:01:34.713
This is an example of
one of our fuel bundles,

01:01:34.714 --> 01:01:36.633
it\'s a much shorter
version of a fuel bundle

01:01:36.634 --> 01:01:37.829
but what\'s neat is,

01:01:37.830 --> 01:01:40.764
is this is what sits inside of the reactor

01:01:40.765 --> 01:01:44.015
that generates the heat for our energy.

01:01:46.206 --> 01:01:47.778
- We\'re still working on this technology,

01:01:47.779 --> 01:01:50.605
we haven\'t put it all
together and built one yet

01:01:50.606 --> 01:01:53.273
but I know it\'s going to happen.

01:01:54.115 --> 01:01:56.714
I mean, we\'d love to build
plants in the United States

01:01:56.715 --> 01:01:58.360
and I think we will someday.

01:01:58.361 --> 01:02:02.292
But right now the market is elsewhere.

01:02:02.293 --> 01:02:03.812
We\'re not politicians,

01:02:03.813 --> 01:02:07.138
we\'re not advocates for
policy, or anything like that.

01:02:07.139 --> 01:02:09.500
But I\'d say, you know,
technologists and engineers

01:02:09.501 --> 01:02:13.456
kinda trump international
relationships a lot,

01:02:13.457 --> 01:02:16.345
you think of the space
programs and everything else.

01:02:16.346 --> 01:02:19.179
People trust engineers, generally.

01:02:20.031 --> 01:02:23.093
They\'re not too sure about
politicians and big corporations,

01:02:23.094 --> 01:02:25.253
but they tend to trust engineers

01:02:25.254 --> 01:02:26.583
because they know engineers,

01:02:26.584 --> 01:02:30.240
all they want to do is to
solve the technical problems.

01:02:30.241 --> 01:02:31.981
- Yes, they have a long way to go.

01:02:31.982 --> 01:02:34.976
But I would give them a lot of credit for,

01:02:34.977 --> 01:02:37.092
sort of, starting to pave the way.

01:02:37.093 --> 01:02:38.896
You\'d have to ask the young
entrepreneurs, you know,

01:02:38.897 --> 01:02:40.628
what were they were they watching

01:02:40.629 --> 01:02:42.814
when they were sitting in grad school?

01:02:42.815 --> 01:02:44.134
But I would think that someone

01:02:44.135 --> 01:02:46.282
would be looking at
TerraPower and going hey,

01:02:46.283 --> 01:02:50.200
maybe I can actually go
do something like that.

01:02:59.337 --> 01:03:00.483
- [Leslie] Hey, Mike.

01:03:00.484 --> 01:03:01.812
- [Mike] Hey, how you doing?

01:03:01.813 --> 01:03:02.686
- [Leslie] Good, how are you?

01:03:02.687 --> 01:03:04.059
- Good, check it out!

01:03:04.060 --> 01:03:05.562
The pellet press came in yesterday.

01:03:05.563 --> 01:03:06.559
- Awesome.

01:03:06.560 --> 01:03:09.062
- Let me, let me take the force
off so you can look at it,

01:03:09.063 --> 01:03:12.270
so it doesn\'t become a
projectile or anything.

01:03:12.271 --> 01:03:13.665
- Nice.

01:03:13.666 --> 01:03:15.679
- Yeah, so this is what
I was talking about where

01:03:15.680 --> 01:03:17.602
we will be able to make
our own alloys with this

01:03:17.603 --> 01:03:19.028
and with the arcmelter.

01:03:19.029 --> 01:03:21.614
- [Leslie] For the first few
years, it was just Mark and me

01:03:21.615 --> 01:03:23.684
and our computer simulations.

01:03:23.685 --> 01:03:25.337
And now we\'re at this
stage where we can do

01:03:25.338 --> 01:03:29.255
the really cool part,
the experimental testing.

01:03:30.998 --> 01:03:32.327
- What we\'re doing in Mike\'s lab

01:03:32.328 --> 01:03:36.616
is essentially just verifying
that the computer models

01:03:36.617 --> 01:03:39.189
that we\'re using to design these reactors,

01:03:39.190 --> 01:03:41.875
without actually having to build them,

01:03:41.876 --> 01:03:46.603
that it\'s matching up with what
we can do in the real world.

01:03:46.604 --> 01:03:48.686
So, we have a good understanding

01:03:48.687 --> 01:03:51.770
of how these materials should behave,

01:03:52.832 --> 01:03:55.442
but we have to verify that the materials,

01:03:55.443 --> 01:03:58.829
they\'re going to last inside of a reactor

01:03:58.830 --> 01:04:01.080
when we actually build one.

01:04:02.163 --> 01:04:05.496
(Mike speaking faintly)

01:04:14.999 --> 01:04:16.499
- I love this job.

01:04:18.160 --> 01:04:19.759
A lot of what I get to do is play around

01:04:19.760 --> 01:04:21.490
with making new metals,
smashing old metals,

01:04:21.491 --> 01:04:25.658
high-temperature, high-pressure,
corrosion, irradiation.

01:04:26.683 --> 01:04:29.175
All the things I used to
watch as a kid on cartoons

01:04:29.176 --> 01:04:30.816
that made me want to get into science,

01:04:30.817 --> 01:04:32.400
I\'m doing them now.

01:04:33.895 --> 01:04:35.418
There\'s some new stuff you
haven\'t seen since, like,

01:04:35.419 --> 01:04:37.377
last time we talked.

01:04:37.378 --> 01:04:39.317
There\'s a lot that\'s
involved in taking something

01:04:39.318 --> 01:04:41.309
from an idea, scratched
on the back of a napkin,

01:04:41.310 --> 01:04:44.332
to a working nuclear reactor.

01:04:44.333 --> 01:04:47.058
So it starts off with an idea.

01:04:47.059 --> 01:04:50.778
We\'re going to repurpose this molten salt.

01:04:50.779 --> 01:04:52.781
The next step is running some analytical

01:04:52.782 --> 01:04:54.992
and simulation calculations to see,

01:04:54.993 --> 01:04:57.341
does this idea hold water?

01:04:57.342 --> 01:04:59.175
Will it actually work?

01:05:02.137 --> 01:05:03.402
Once you\'ve past that step,

01:05:03.403 --> 01:05:04.642
you need to get into the details.

01:05:04.643 --> 01:05:07.212
And that\'s the stage that
they\'re at right now.

01:05:07.213 --> 01:05:09.880
To be melted and run in
corrosion experiments

01:05:09.881 --> 01:05:12.519
and then back in here for
analysis and processing.

01:05:12.520 --> 01:05:14.385
You design new alloys,

01:05:14.386 --> 01:05:18.125
then you can stick them in
the molten salt furnace,

01:05:18.126 --> 01:05:21.309
and see if they survive
a whole lot of exposure

01:05:21.310 --> 01:05:23.977
to this radioactive molten salt.

01:05:25.213 --> 01:05:26.521
- Is this an emergency stop?

01:05:26.522 --> 01:05:29.484
- That is an emergency
stop in there, yeah.

01:05:29.485 --> 01:05:31.816
Now there\'s a, MIT\'s a funny place,

01:05:31.817 --> 01:05:33.297
we have all this fancy stuff

01:05:33.298 --> 01:05:35.853
but we don\'t have handles on the doors.

01:05:35.854 --> 01:05:39.187
Oh here we go, my high tech door handle.

01:05:41.903 --> 01:05:43.708
- Over the next 2 to
3 years we should have

01:05:43.709 --> 01:05:46.389
a preliminary answer as
to whether the materials

01:05:46.390 --> 01:05:48.724
are going to survive the
problems of corrosion,

01:05:48.725 --> 01:05:51.164
fouling, and radiation resistance

01:05:51.165 --> 01:05:53.415
in the TransAtomic reactor.

01:05:54.515 --> 01:05:56.779
- Some of the options in
the form of common stock

01:05:56.780 --> 01:06:00.394
conjunction with the
last round of financing.

01:06:00.395 --> 01:06:04.826
We both have a stock
purchase agreement here,

01:06:04.827 --> 01:06:08.678
and that says that we
get the common stock.

01:06:08.679 --> 01:06:09.931
- The business side of this is something

01:06:09.932 --> 01:06:13.656
that neither of us had,
like, any experience

01:06:13.657 --> 01:06:16.407
before we started down this road.

01:06:17.350 --> 01:06:19.082
- It\'s necessary in conjunction with

01:06:19.083 --> 01:06:21.500
the stock purchase agreement.

01:06:21.501 --> 01:06:23.106
- And when you think about it,

01:06:23.107 --> 01:06:27.297
before Transatomic the only
other nuclear reactor company

01:06:27.298 --> 01:06:29.586
that had raised, like, money

01:06:29.587 --> 01:06:34.541
from a top-tiered venture
capital firm was TerraPower.

01:06:34.542 --> 01:06:35.375
- Yeah.

01:06:35.376 --> 01:06:37.546
I see them as blazing the trail

01:06:37.547 --> 01:06:40.714
for everyone else in advanced nuclear.

01:06:45.080 --> 01:06:46.438
- When I first came to MIT,

01:06:46.439 --> 01:06:48.597
I was told by everybody that chances are

01:06:48.598 --> 01:06:50.345
two of the three people sitting next to me

01:06:50.346 --> 01:06:52.447
are gonna be the startup billionaires.

01:06:52.448 --> 01:06:54.635
So it doesn\'t surprise me
at all that Mark and Leslie,

01:06:54.636 --> 01:06:56.604
undergrads at the same time as me,

01:06:56.605 --> 01:06:59.437
started up a nuclear company.

01:06:59.438 --> 01:07:01.909
But the fact that nuclear
and entrepreneurship

01:07:01.910 --> 01:07:04.169
is now a term you can put together,

01:07:04.170 --> 01:07:07.281
that\'s totally new and really exciting.

01:07:07.282 --> 01:07:09.396
- Aw, that\'s so sweet of you.

01:07:09.397 --> 01:07:11.064
- [Mike] It\'s almost
like the nuclear world

01:07:11.065 --> 01:07:15.957
is catching up to the
mentality of Silicon Valley.

01:07:15.958 --> 01:07:18.061
- Hey, so sorry to keep
you waiting, Scott,

01:07:18.062 --> 01:07:19.572
really good to see you.

01:07:19.573 --> 01:07:20.605
- Stuff that we try to invest in

01:07:20.606 --> 01:07:22.253
is things where we think there\'s really

01:07:22.254 --> 01:07:23.547
a fundamental breakthrough,

01:07:23.548 --> 01:07:25.590
in technology or the business.

01:07:25.591 --> 01:07:27.853
Founders Funds invested in Facebook,

01:07:27.854 --> 01:07:30.472
we were the first outside investor,

01:07:30.473 --> 01:07:32.723
Spotify, Airbnb and SpaceX.

01:07:34.945 --> 01:07:36.106
So a lot of the people in our team

01:07:36.107 --> 01:07:38.767
had been interested in
nuclear for a long time.

01:07:38.768 --> 01:07:40.631
And yet, there was this feeling that maybe

01:07:40.632 --> 01:07:42.799
nuclear\'s time had passed.

01:07:43.747 --> 01:07:45.752
The four root problems
that seem to be behind

01:07:45.753 --> 01:07:48.991
much of society\'s anti-nuclear perspective

01:07:48.992 --> 01:07:52.021
were safety, number two was waste,

01:07:52.022 --> 01:07:56.676
number three was cost, and
four was proliferation.

01:07:56.677 --> 01:07:58.064
And Mark and Leslie\'s design,

01:07:58.065 --> 01:08:01.398
it actually satisfied all four of those.

01:08:03.638 --> 01:08:05.065
With early-stage companies,

01:08:05.066 --> 01:08:07.079
you\'re never gonna know exactly
how everything plays out,

01:08:07.080 --> 01:08:09.251
but what you have to bet on is that,

01:08:09.252 --> 01:08:10.624
it\'s a team you believe in,

01:08:10.625 --> 01:08:12.854
and that they\'re thinking about
the problem the right way.

01:08:12.855 --> 01:08:15.409
At some point you\'re betting on them.

01:08:15.410 --> 01:08:17.300
- It\'s a, it was a sort of a last minute,

01:08:17.301 --> 01:08:18.784
half million dollar purchase

01:08:18.785 --> 01:08:21.093
that worked out really, really well.

01:08:21.094 --> 01:08:23.516
- Purchased by MIT, not
purchased by Transatomic,

01:08:23.517 --> 01:08:26.283
just to clarify that we\'re not like...

01:08:26.284 --> 01:08:27.775
- It\'s half a million, no big deal.

01:08:27.776 --> 01:08:29.048
- Yeah.

01:08:29.049 --> 01:08:30.283
- You guys ready to head downstairs?

01:08:30.284 --> 01:08:31.601
- [Leslie] Let\'s do it.

01:08:31.602 --> 01:08:33.036
- [Mike] Cool.

01:08:33.037 --> 01:08:34.433
- [Leslie] So a year out from now,

01:08:34.434 --> 01:08:35.837
we\'ll have built up our core staff,

01:08:35.838 --> 01:08:37.730
we\'ll be making good regulatory progress

01:08:37.731 --> 01:08:40.066
and from an experimental perspective,

01:08:40.067 --> 01:08:41.849
we\'ll have our initial results back

01:08:41.850 --> 01:08:45.169
from the corrosion experiments.

01:08:45.170 --> 01:08:47.649
- We don\'t really know
what\'s going to happen.

01:08:47.650 --> 01:08:50.918
To take a risk like this
is not a sure fire thing.

01:08:50.919 --> 01:08:52.543
So the fact that Mark and Leslie,

01:08:52.544 --> 01:08:56.088
they\'re going through with this,
they, not just Transatomic,

01:08:56.089 --> 01:08:58.579
but they as in any nuclear start-up,

01:08:58.580 --> 01:09:01.363
amidst this sort of wave of negativity,

01:09:01.364 --> 01:09:03.511
can push through and come
out on the other side

01:09:03.512 --> 01:09:07.679
with a working technology,
that takes a lot of chutzpah.

01:09:09.478 --> 01:09:12.311
(mid-tempo music)

01:09:24.810 --> 01:09:28.060
(employees chattering)

01:09:32.609 --> 01:09:36.821
- It\'s been a busy last
10 months, I\'d say.

01:09:36.822 --> 01:09:39.589
California\'s lived up to its expectations,

01:09:39.590 --> 01:09:43.580
it\'s a place where there\'s single focus on

01:09:43.581 --> 01:09:46.492
building your company
and focusing on that,

01:09:46.493 --> 01:09:48.212
working hard.

01:09:48.213 --> 01:09:49.396
- Renewables, dude.

01:09:49.397 --> 01:09:51.973
They\'re like... (crashing noise)

01:09:51.974 --> 01:09:54.365
(laughter)

01:09:54.366 --> 01:09:55.699
Oh no, it broke.

01:09:58.081 --> 01:10:00.498
Oh, was that the glue failed?

01:10:02.548 --> 01:10:03.976
- [Carloline] When we
were starting to look at

01:10:03.977 --> 01:10:07.112
what kind of technology did
we really want to settle on,

01:10:07.113 --> 01:10:09.056
we first started with, what did we think

01:10:09.057 --> 01:10:10.830
people wanted to buy?

01:10:10.831 --> 01:10:12.549
So, keeping it simple, stupid,

01:10:12.550 --> 01:10:15.633
was kind of our mantra from early on.

01:10:16.881 --> 01:10:18.673
- We got, kind of, a unique opportunity

01:10:18.674 --> 01:10:20.728
to go to the National Lab
and do some work with them.

01:10:20.729 --> 01:10:24.896
And it\'s really awesome, because
I love nuclear technology,

01:10:25.991 --> 01:10:27.852
I love nuclear reactors.

01:10:27.853 --> 01:10:29.456
I love being around reactor facilities

01:10:29.457 --> 01:10:31.252
and I particularly love kind of the,

01:10:31.253 --> 01:10:33.666
the Golden Age of nuclear
research and development

01:10:33.667 --> 01:10:35.917
of the fifties and sixties.

01:10:37.734 --> 01:10:38.995
We\'re standing on the shoulders of giants

01:10:38.996 --> 01:10:40.273
doing what we\'re doing,

01:10:40.274 --> 01:10:42.891
dating back to all of the
work that\'s come through

01:10:42.892 --> 01:10:45.560
over the last couple decades.

01:10:45.561 --> 01:10:48.894
It\'s a new legacy that went on out here.

01:10:53.580 --> 01:10:55.620
- It\'s kinda interesting to
think about the history of it,

01:10:55.621 --> 01:10:59.520
kind of a similarity to
what we were going to do.

01:10:59.521 --> 01:11:00.813
It doesn\'t like stick up,

01:11:00.814 --> 01:11:02.079
you can\'t see it from a big distance,

01:11:02.080 --> 01:11:03.465
it\'s like you have to come around a curve,

01:11:03.466 --> 01:11:04.813
and then there it is.

01:11:04.814 --> 01:11:06.223
And it\'s like, just up against a hill.

01:11:06.224 --> 01:11:08.573
- More accessible and almost natural.

01:11:08.574 --> 01:11:10.360
- Yeah. You can see the GE
logo, and the one water tank,

01:11:10.361 --> 01:11:11.763
not even affiliated
with the nuclear plant,

01:11:11.764 --> 01:11:13.965
but you\'re right, it just blends in.

01:11:13.966 --> 01:11:16.764
- I would love for our units
to look kind of like that,

01:11:16.765 --> 01:11:19.515
just like simple and beautiful.

01:11:20.664 --> 01:11:24.687
- I think I just romanticize
that era so much.

01:11:24.688 --> 01:11:28.855
That was the sixties, that\'s
when we did everything.

01:11:33.683 --> 01:11:36.325
- Starting small and
working up from there,

01:11:36.326 --> 01:11:39.898
I mean GE started here with
just a five megawatt plant,

01:11:39.899 --> 01:11:42.572
that produced, for how
long, like 10 years?

01:11:42.573 --> 01:11:43.828
- [Jake] Like 10 or 12 years.

01:11:43.829 --> 01:11:44.851
- Yeah, it was a long time.

01:11:44.852 --> 01:11:46.074
- [Jake] Power on the grid.

01:11:46.075 --> 01:11:48.769
- First one connected to the grid.

01:11:48.770 --> 01:11:49.938
I think it\'s kind of interesting, too,

01:11:49.939 --> 01:11:52.447
if you think about this as
a five megawatt solar array

01:11:52.448 --> 01:11:54.670
it would probably cover all this land,

01:11:54.671 --> 01:11:57.232
and be quite obtrusive.
- Yeah, all of this.

01:11:57.233 --> 01:11:59.066
- No grasses or birds.

01:11:59.958 --> 01:12:02.485
- [Jake] It\'s kinda cool.

01:12:02.486 --> 01:12:03.486
- Go big,

01:12:04.809 --> 01:12:05.834
go small to go big.

01:12:05.835 --> 01:12:06.835
- Yeah.

01:12:13.539 --> 01:12:16.692
We need to think about how
can we help make it easier

01:12:16.693 --> 01:12:18.827
so that companies and
great ideas can get built

01:12:18.828 --> 01:12:21.662
and developed and then also
bring that technology to the,

01:12:21.663 --> 01:12:23.672
to the rest of the
world as soon as we can.

01:12:23.673 --> 01:12:26.444
We need to think about being
a world leader as a country

01:12:26.445 --> 01:12:27.990
and doing that, again,

01:12:27.991 --> 01:12:31.424
a world leader in bringing
clean, reliable energy to people,

01:12:31.425 --> 01:12:33.592
and that includes nuclear.

01:13:11.141 --> 01:13:14.423
- I contacted two scientific
colleagues in China,

01:13:14.424 --> 01:13:16.761
to have a workshop on climate,

01:13:16.762 --> 01:13:19.429
air pollution and nuclear power.

01:13:21.197 --> 01:13:22.966
They really pushed to
make this connection,

01:13:22.967 --> 01:13:25.207
and now I think it may pay off

01:13:25.208 --> 01:13:28.103
and so I\'m very grateful
to my Chinese colleagues

01:13:28.104 --> 01:13:29.354
for doing that.

01:13:30.326 --> 01:13:32.159
- It seems to me that,

01:13:33.246 --> 01:13:36.791
the future of the planet! (laughter)

01:13:36.792 --> 01:13:37.762
- Cheers!

01:13:37.763 --> 01:13:40.679
(glasses clinking)

01:13:42.289 --> 01:13:45.439
- Most people are surprised
to learn that China,

01:13:45.440 --> 01:13:48.033
even though it\'s the
biggest emitter now, by far,

01:13:48.034 --> 01:13:49.608
is responsible for only 10%

01:13:49.609 --> 01:13:52.526
of the excess CO2 in the atmosphere

01:13:53.956 --> 01:13:55.356
from fossil fuel burning.

01:13:55.357 --> 01:13:59.143
While the United States is
responsible for more than 25%,

01:13:59.144 --> 01:14:02.595
and the European union for more than 25%.

01:14:02.596 --> 01:14:04.383
So that\'s one thing we need to make clear,

01:14:04.384 --> 01:14:08.494
we\'re not blaming them
for the climate change,

01:14:08.495 --> 01:14:11.532
but now we\'re in the same boat,

01:14:11.533 --> 01:14:13.562
and it\'s leaking.

01:14:13.563 --> 01:14:16.883
And either we figure out how
to plug those holes together,

01:14:16.884 --> 01:14:19.134
or we all go down together.

01:14:21.571 --> 01:14:23.918
- Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning.

01:14:23.919 --> 01:14:28.880
It\'s my great honor for me
to express my warmly welcome

01:14:28.881 --> 01:14:31.131
to our distinguished guest.

01:14:33.338 --> 01:14:35.433
- My observation about China is that

01:14:35.434 --> 01:14:37.351
things are very siloed.

01:14:38.648 --> 01:14:42.864
This is the only time ever
that the China nuclear people

01:14:42.865 --> 01:14:46.221
have come together with
the China climate people,

01:14:46.222 --> 01:14:47.937
which is kind of astounding.

01:14:47.938 --> 01:14:50.485
So I think my role, and
what Jim asked me to do

01:14:50.486 --> 01:14:52.330
was come and present,

01:14:52.331 --> 01:14:54.592
bring those two worlds together and say

01:14:54.593 --> 01:14:58.593
why is it that nuclear
is really important here?

01:15:18.261 --> 01:15:21.425
- You have a nice sign for us.

01:15:21.426 --> 01:15:23.343
- Thank you, thank you.

01:15:28.032 --> 01:15:29.745
- You know, when you look
at these young people,

01:15:29.746 --> 01:15:33.974
that\'s the first thing
that comes to my mind,

01:15:33.975 --> 01:15:37.609
that they are going to experience things

01:15:37.610 --> 01:15:39.860
as a result of our actions.

01:15:41.647 --> 01:15:45.291
They\'re going to be alive
at the end of this century.

01:15:45.292 --> 01:15:47.792
That\'s what this is all about,

01:15:49.362 --> 01:15:52.145
the whole issue is climate change,

01:15:52.146 --> 01:15:53.979
what we\'re concerned about is the future

01:15:53.980 --> 01:15:57.480
that we\'re leaving for those young people.

01:16:01.588 --> 01:16:04.958
- Even though China is going
really fast on nuclear,

01:16:04.959 --> 01:16:07.824
they don\'t necessarily have
all the technological savvy

01:16:07.825 --> 01:16:09.908
that we have in the West.

01:16:11.163 --> 01:16:13.407
So the real opportunity
here is to marry up

01:16:13.408 --> 01:16:15.586
the enormous technological know-how

01:16:15.587 --> 01:16:19.235
and research base that we have in the US,

01:16:19.236 --> 01:16:21.554
with the enormous demand,
not just in China,

01:16:21.555 --> 01:16:24.497
but in other parts of Asia, as well.

01:16:24.498 --> 01:16:26.825
It\'s almost a perfect complementarity

01:16:26.826 --> 01:16:28.826
between the two systems.

01:16:34.344 --> 01:16:37.168
- [James] This issue of climate change

01:16:37.169 --> 01:16:39.397
just completely overrides

01:16:39.398 --> 01:16:41.855
all these disagreements you hear about

01:16:41.856 --> 01:16:44.856
between the United States and China.

01:16:47.293 --> 01:16:49.460
They seem so unimportant

01:16:49.461 --> 01:16:53.211
in comparison to the
future of both countries

01:16:54.530 --> 01:16:56.530
for generations to come.

01:17:11.397 --> 01:17:13.634
- [Mark] There\'s an
opportunity for nuclear power

01:17:13.635 --> 01:17:17.802
to fundamentally change the
way the world generates energy.

01:17:19.100 --> 01:17:21.526
- [Leslie] And perhaps it\'s
times of crisis to drive

01:17:21.527 --> 01:17:23.040
major technological change.

01:17:23.041 --> 01:17:25.627
So it was World War II that drove

01:17:25.628 --> 01:17:27.125
the development of the atomic bomb

01:17:27.126 --> 01:17:30.541
and the birth of the nuclear
industry in the first place.

01:17:30.542 --> 01:17:33.961
And I think now perhaps
it\'s climate change

01:17:33.962 --> 01:17:38.129
that is driving this new
generation of nuclear power.

01:17:44.551 --> 01:17:46.959
- I don\'t think we need a miracle.

01:17:46.960 --> 01:17:51.127
What we really need is global
cooperation on technology.

01:17:52.529 --> 01:17:55.224
We need to solve problems together,

01:17:55.225 --> 01:17:57.603
because this is hard and it\'s complex

01:17:57.604 --> 01:17:59.787
and it\'s not about the lawyers mainly,

01:17:59.788 --> 01:18:02.621
it\'s mainly about the engineering.

01:18:05.281 --> 01:18:07.907
- We\'re building something
that is part of efforts

01:18:07.908 --> 01:18:11.299
that can fundamentally save the world.

01:18:11.300 --> 01:18:15.150
Nuclear\'s going to be
so important for that.

01:18:15.151 --> 01:18:17.074
- [Caroline] I feel like
the really big difference

01:18:17.075 --> 01:18:21.046
of what our future could
look like in 2030, in 2060,

01:18:21.047 --> 01:18:23.030
is nuclear power.

01:18:23.031 --> 01:18:25.698
It can really be a game changer.

01:18:29.853 --> 01:18:32.659
- Silicon Valley didn\'t just happen.

01:18:32.660 --> 01:18:34.687
I mean Silicon Valley
was basically invented

01:18:34.688 --> 01:18:37.402
by the federal government
to really pioneer

01:18:37.403 --> 01:18:39.903
the field of computer science.

01:18:40.921 --> 01:18:41.988
And I think if we want

01:18:41.989 --> 01:18:43.842
the next generation of nuclear plants,

01:18:43.843 --> 01:18:45.231
we need to really be committed

01:18:45.232 --> 01:18:47.889
to creating the same
kind of innovative sector

01:18:47.890 --> 01:18:49.723
in the nuclear sector.

01:18:53.030 --> 01:18:54.794
It\'s going to require us
to think really differently

01:18:54.795 --> 01:18:57.492
about how we license reactors,

01:18:57.493 --> 01:18:59.769
and I think we can do it,

01:18:59.770 --> 01:19:01.058
but we have to decide

01:19:01.059 --> 01:19:04.476
that we actually want those technologies.

01:19:08.716 --> 01:19:12.107
- People need to advocate
for clean energy.

01:19:12.108 --> 01:19:14.996
Get out there and talk to your neighbors.

01:19:14.997 --> 01:19:18.164
Let\'s start that dialogue as a nation.

01:19:19.071 --> 01:19:23.500
If you have children, talk
to them about their future.

01:19:23.501 --> 01:19:26.982
My kids, my kids are worried
about climate change.

01:19:26.983 --> 01:19:29.137
And so, how do you solve that?

01:19:29.138 --> 01:19:30.471
By clean energy.

01:19:33.977 --> 01:19:36.227
- It\'s a situation where
the younger generation

01:19:36.228 --> 01:19:38.706
is gonna make the changes,

01:19:38.707 --> 01:19:41.923
and, unfortunately, my generation

01:19:41.924 --> 01:19:45.174
has left them a pretty lousy situation.

01:19:47.028 --> 01:19:49.208
But, when it comes to addressing,

01:19:49.209 --> 01:19:52.158
arguably, the greatest challenge,

01:19:52.159 --> 01:19:55.108
certainly the greatest
environmental challenge in history,

01:19:55.109 --> 01:19:59.276
it\'s the young people that
are gonna be driving it.

01:20:03.200 --> 01:20:05.057
- There are examples of countries

01:20:05.058 --> 01:20:07.706
that reduced their carbon emissions

01:20:07.707 --> 01:20:11.272
at those rates that we
need today, globally.

01:20:11.273 --> 01:20:15.417
Places like France, which
did it in the 1970s and \'80s,

01:20:15.418 --> 01:20:17.405
Sweden, 1980s.

01:20:17.406 --> 01:20:22.008
And they did that with a big
scale up of nuclear power.

01:20:22.009 --> 01:20:24.649
And they didn\'t even have
the advanced technologies

01:20:24.650 --> 01:20:26.983
that we\'re working on today.

01:20:28.117 --> 01:20:31.487
If big countries like
China, India and the US

01:20:31.488 --> 01:20:32.982
kinda pulled a \"France,\"

01:20:32.983 --> 01:20:34.544
it\'s definitely doable,

01:20:34.545 --> 01:20:36.600
it\'s definitely a feasible example

01:20:36.601 --> 01:20:39.434
of how we can stop climate change.