It’s never too late to change your mind. For American filmmaker Oliver Stone, the turning point came in 2019 after reading A Bright Future by Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Qvist. “Before, I was like you. I was afraid of nuclear power,” he confides. From now on, the famous director – 77 years old and more than 30 films to his credit -, subscribed to controversies, promotes the energy of the atom wherever he goes. In his latest documentary Nuclear Now – a nightmare to finance, no one wanted it in Hollywood – nuclear power is even presented as an essential energy for the future. The only one that meets climate and energy challenges.
Spoiler alert: “The world is going to have to produce reactors on an assembly line, as it did for airliners,” warns Oliver Stone at the end of his new work, in his prophetic voice worn by time. China is already gearing up for battle, with nineteen large reactors under construction and an impressive capacity to connect a new machine to its electricity grid every three months. Meanwhile, the United States and other countries are procrastinating. It must be said that nuclear power still suffers from a bad reputation. The guilty ? Fears linked to accidents but also the misleading speeches of the enemies of the sector – environmental associations, gas and oil industrialists – or even pop culture – Godzilla, The simpsons – always quick to caricature the effects of radiation.
No contradictor
On these subjects, Oliver Stone attempts to set the record straight. He weighs up the efficiency of nuclear power and that of renewable energies, recalls our growing needs for electricity, dares to compare the number of deaths attributed to past nuclear accidents to those resulting from chemical pollution or road accidents… The argument hits the mark . Nuclear power indeed suffers from a bad reputation, from confusion between civil and military applications. We certainly need to reconsider this energy, without which our climate goals will be difficult to achieve.
But in wanting to convince so much, Oliver Stone forgets good journalistic practices. His documentary leaves little room for renewable energies, which are part of the solution. He also does not dwell on questions of sobriety, although they are essential. Finally, he forgets – no doubt deliberately – the questions of the cost and complexity of nuclear projects, preferring for the passage dedicated to France, to highlight the Civaux power plant rather than the Flamanville site. A documentary without contradiction. The method is reminiscent of that of Conversations with Putinthe complacent film/documentary dedicated to the master of the Kremlin which had earned him so much criticism.
Oliver Stone is probably not the defender the industry dreamed of. However, its recent conversion demonstrates an interesting shift. Faced with energy and climate issues, more and more people are defending civil nuclear power. Drawing a line under its youthful mistakes, the group U2 now supports the energy of the atom, including in one of its songs (Atomic City). A graduate of an engineering school, Miss America 2023 has become knowledgeable on the subject. She tirelessly continues her work of evangelization. Even Patrick Moore, the co-founder of the Greenpeace movement in 1971, eventually joined the cause. Oliver Stone is ultimately only the last in a… very Anglo-Saxon list. Looking forward to a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand on the subject!
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