What's On Column: Two thought-provoking nuclear meltdown documentaries

Meltdown: Three Mile Island is a recently released Netflix documentary about a ‘near-miss’ that happened in 1979 at a nuclear power facility in Pennsylvania, USA. A lesser known tale than the events that transpired in Chernobyl some seven years later, but no less terrifying.

On the night of the accident, operators at the facility failed to notice that a relief valve had failed, and large amounts of coolant began to escape from the system. This led to overheating of the core, which was hugely damaged in the incident. The reactor came perilously close to a complete meltdown, a scenario which could have left a vast region around the plant uninhabitable.

The first two episodes deal with the accident itself, but the third and forth episodes recount the experiences of the whistleblowers who risked their livelihoods and personal security to expose the cover-ups and corner cutting perpetrated by those tasked with cleaning up the site.

The directors do a very good job of dramatising the events and giving an insight into the situation on the ground at the time. The standout character from this documentary is Rick Parks, a Navy trained nuclear cleanup specialist. Parks realised quite quickly that the remedial operation was not being done safely, and he sacrificed his comfortable life and his personal relationships in the interests of the greater good.

This accident happened just weeks after the release of The China Syndrome, a film depicting a nuclear accident at a fictional American power plant. This can only have served to add to the febrile atmosphere of the time in the communities surrounding the reactor. We follow them on a journey, as they become more and more politicised. Tired of being gas-lit by the nuclear power companies and regulators, their credulity turns to activism and political awareness. This documentary is well researched and gives a great insight into events that transpired at the time.

Into Eternity (Amazon Prime and available free on YouTube), acts as a very useful follow up to the Three Mile Island documentary. Directed by Michael Madsen, it poses a thought provoking and troubling question. What do we do with the by-product of the nuclear energy industry? How can we safely store it?

We learn that, since humanity started generating power from nuclear energy, we have created at least 250,000 tonnes of high-level radioactive waste, which will be a danger to humanity for another 100,000 years. The documentary goes some way towards putting these mind-boggling numbers in context.

In Onkalo, Finland, engineers are labouring away to construct a vast, cathedral-like tomb where they will store spent nuclear fuel. 500 metres below ground, it will be sealed in the year 2100. The authorities hope that future generations will leave well enough alone and never come near the place. Considering the time span before the material becomes harmless, (about 4000 human generations), this expectation seems quixotic at best.

When this conundrum is pointed out to the officials involved in the project, they look visibly uncomfortable and struggle to assuage the director’s concerns. It would make good reality TV, if the topic wasn’t so serious.

As well as conveying an important message, the cinematography and soundtrack of this film are powerful. Redolent of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the subterranean darkness and lumbering machines are made to seem epic and futuristic.

Both of these documentaries are topical at the moment, as we seek ways to move away from fossil fuels and reduce our carbon footprint. If we are not mindful, though, what other type of legacy might we be leaving behind?