piece of it. what ann is setting up here, what she s talking about, she s setting up a discussion about the politics of nuclear power in the united states. but what i want you to focus on is what she is showing as she is setting this up. watch. this is a rare look at an assembly line of what some see as america s energy future, the components of nuclear power. tiny uranium pellets fill 12-foot-long rods. bundled together, they become assemblies. inside reactors, the assembly s active engine, creating nuclear energy, once done, they have radioactive waste that could be dangerous for thousands of years, and that s the problem. how do you dispose of nuclear waste? actually how you dispose of that stuff is just one problem with it. there s a whole different problem that is happening now, but seeing it being built like that is helpful for understanding what we re dealing with. you saw the pellets of uranium. right there.
technology and material, the actual physical stuff that is going so wrong right now in that japanese nuclear power plant we have all learned so much about in the last few days. one thing we found in our tape archives is affairly amazing piece of footage from anne thompson from nbc s chief environmental affairs correspondent. p a this aired right after barack obama was elected president in 2008. what anne is setting up, what she s talking about, she s setting up a discussion about the politics of nuclear power in the united states. but what i want you to focus on is what she is showing as she is setting this up. watch. reporter: this is a rare look at an assembly line of what some see as america s energy future. the components of nuclear power. tiny uranium pellets fill 12 foot long rods. bundled together, they become assemblies. inside reactors, the assemblies act as engines, creating nuclear energy for up to six years.
of footage from anne thompson from the chief environmental affairs correspondent that aired on nbc nightly news after barack obama was elected president in 2008. check out a little piece of it. what ann is setting up here, what she s talking about, she s setting up discussion about the politics of nuclear power in the united states. but what i want you to focus on is what she is showing as she is setting it up. watch. this is a rare look at an assembly line of what some see as america s energy future, the components of nuclear power. tiny uranium pellets fill 12 foot long rods. put together, they become an assembly. inside reactors, the assembly s active engine, creating nuclear energy, once done, they have radioactive waste that could be dangerous for thousands of years, and that s the problem. how do you dispose of nuclear waste. actually, how you dispose of
2008. check out a little piece of it. what ann is setting up here, what she s talking about, she s setting up discussion about the politics of nuclear power in the united states. but what i want you to focus on is what she is showing as she is setting it up. watch. this is a rare look at an assembly line of what some see as america s energy future, the components of nuclear power. tiny uranium pellets fill 12 foot long rods. put together, they become an assembly. inside reactors, the assembly s active engine, creating nuclear energy, once done, they have radioactive waste that could be dangerous for thousands of years, and that s the problem. how do you dispose of nuclear waste. actually, how you dispose of that stuff is just one problem with it. there s a whole different problem happening now.