Oliver Stone unveils documentary on nuclear power

Photo: cover of the film “Nuclear” directed by Oliver Stone

The 79th Venice Film Festival took place. There were three films on climate issues in its programme: Noah Baumbach’s satirical White Noise, Paolo Virzis’ Siccita and the documentary Nuclear by Oliver Stone.

The key message of Stone’s film is that introducing nuclear energy into domestic life and production will end the climate crisis.

The film is based on Joshua S. Goldstein’s book “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and Others May Follow”. It is about securing the future of humanity with nuclear energy. The scientist and director worked together on the film for nearly two years.

The film is based on the assumption that in 30 years’ time humanity’s need for energy will not be satisfied by conventional or ‘green’ energy alone. By 2050, India, China and the African continent will have used up so much energy that the earth’s resources will simply be exhausted. It has been shown that India and China are already large consumers of energy, while the US has not changed its consumption figures, despite all the talk of renewable energy and changing lifestyles in a more sustainable direction. In Goldstein’s view, the demand to “consume less” is not relevant — it won’t happen. Therefore a clean source of energy, such as nuclear energy, is needed. And if consumers (India, China, Africa, Indonesia and others) do not have that, they will use coal. And this will become a worldwide problem.

Stone and Goldstein believe that oil, gas and coal companies have an interest in discrediting nuclear power as their main competitor.

Opponents of nuclear power argue that nuclear reactors are not as clean as Goldstein and Stone claim. Proponents, on the other hand, argue that nuclear reactors do not produce carbon monoxide in electricity generation.

Stone believes that the aversion to nuclear power also stems from ignorance, as there is confusion in the mind between concepts such as nuclear energy, nuclear war and the atomic bomb. “There are all these fears. Fear kills reason. It kills creativity. Man has to grow,” Stone said. In his view, it is impossible for a reactor to explode like an atomic bomb. And the disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima are only exceptions.

According to Stone and Goldstein, nuclear energy is a safe resource. “We are fed the lie about nuclear power that any accident, any release of radiation is a disaster for the world,” says Goldstein. — But the fact is that we are exposed to low levels of radiation all the time. Our body is made for it. Our DNA is repairing itself“. Goldstein also said that people are deliberately indoctrinated with fear of radiation pollution to fear nuclear power, but “this is an irrational fear”.

Cover photo: Press Service of the Presidential Administration