The Best Power & Nuclear Documentaries

Engineering & Megastructures - 53 free documentaries about power & nuclear.

Start with The Final Barrier to (Nearly) Infinite Energy (22 min, PBS Space Time), then Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown (53 min, FRONTLINE PBS). All 53 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on power & nuclear is The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.

• The Final Barrier to (Nearly) Infinite Energy (22 min, PBS Space Time)
• Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown (53 min, FRONTLINE PBS)
• A New Way to Achieve Nuclear Fusion: Helion (31 min, Real Engineering)
• Refueling a NUCLEAR REACTOR - Smarter Every Day 311 (106 min, Smarter Every Day)
• I Explored the World's First Nuclear Power Plant (and How It Works) - Smarter Every Day 306 (43 min, Smarter Every Day)
• Why Germany Hates Nuclear Power (20 min, Real Engineering)
• I Went Into a Nuclear Plant and It Changed How I Think About Radiation - Smarter Every Day 309 (42 min, Smarter Every Day)
• The Chernobyl Shield Is Broken – Here’s What That Means (22 min, The B1M)
• Engineering The Largest Nuclear Fusion Reactor (20 min, Practical Engineering)
• Nuclear fusion's hope - The dream of endless clean energy (42 min, DW Documentary)
• The Uncertain Future of Nuclear Power (20 min, Real Engineering)
• How Nuclear Power Works (47 min, Animagraffs)
• What Happens to Wildlife After Nuclear Disaster (21 min, Real Science)
• The Most Radioactive Places on Earth (11 min, Veritasium)
• This is The World's Most Complex Construction Project (32 min, The B1M)
• Britain's Chernobyl: The Nuclear Disaster You've Never Heard Of | Nuclear Winter (50 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Race For Uranium: Who Will Fuel The Nuclear Revival? | The Nuclear Option - Part 3 (47 min, CNA Insider)
• Which Power Plant Does My Electricity Come From? (23 min, Practical Engineering)
• Where Does Grounded Electricity Actually Go? (20 min, Practical Engineering)
• The Problem with Nuclear Fusion (17 min, Real Engineering)
• The Economics of Nuclear Energy (16 min, Real Engineering)
• Radioactive Waste: A Nuclear Nightmare (77 min, ENDEVR)
• The Fukushima Disaster: Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare (51 min, Free Documentary)
• What Really Happened During the 2003 Blackout? (21 min, Practical Engineering)
• The Nuclear Revival: How Nuclear Reactors Have Evolved | The Nuclear Option - Part 1 (47 min, CNA Insider)
• Ukraine's Radioactive City: The Next Chernobyl? (52 min, Real Stories)
• Chernobyl - What It's Like Today (8 min, Veritasium)
• The Race to Demolish Fukushima (20 min, The B1M)
• What Is A Black Start Of The Power Grid? (17 min, Practical Engineering)
• How Long Would Society Last During a Total Grid Collapse? (15 min, Practical Engineering)
• Hibernia GBS: Inside The Heavist Oil Rig On Earth | Super Structures Episode 6 (52 min, Spark)
• How To Install a Pipeline Under a Railroad (16 min, Practical Engineering)
• Is America About to Win the Nuclear Fusion Race? (14 min, The B1M)
• We Went Inside the Largest Nuclear Fusion Reactor (10 min, The B1M)
• How Power Blackouts Work (10 min, Practical Engineering)
• Bottling A Star: Is Fusion Energy An Unlimited Power Source? (57 min, Spark)
• Overbudget: Britain's $57BN Nuclear Nightmare (13 min, The B1M)
• Why Nuclear Power is Making a Comeback (13 min, The B1M)
• How Massive Oil Rigs Are Built (S5, E14) | Modern Marvels (46 min, HISTORY)
• America's Insane Plan for Nuclear Powered Planes (11 min, Real Engineering)
• WS-125: The Nuclear Powered Bomber That Could Fly For Months Without Landing (50 min, Spark)
• How Much Is Your Electricity Bill About To Go Up? | Talking Point (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Yasin Bey: On Board The Floating Power Plant (46 min, Spark)
• Chernobyl, 1986: What Really Happened After The Reactor Blew (54 min, Spark)
• How Kueh Evolved From Savoury To Sweet Through Cross-Cultural Fusion | Southeast Asia On A Plate (46 min, CNA Insider)
• Detecting World Cup goals with electricity - The TV Pick-up effect (11 min, Steve Mould)
• Global Nuclear Energy Race: Countries Compete To Build Small Nuclear Reactors (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Can Nuclear Power Be Safer To Live With? | The Nuclear Option - Part 2 (45 min, CNA Insider)
• Transocean Winner: How to Re-Float an Oil Rig (45 min, Spark)
• "They Won't Come Back": Are Taiwan's Offshore Wind Farms Driving Fish Away? | Power To The People (45 min, CNA Insider)
• Transporting a 23,000 Ton Magnet Over 100km (48 min, Spark)
• Maersk Interceptor: Inside The World's Largest Jack-Up Oil Rig (46 min, Spark)
• Northeast Blackout 2003 - NYC (22 min, GammaBlog)

Top-Rated Books About Power & Nuclear

1. The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (4.3/5) - View on Amazon
2. Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham (4.7/5) - View on Amazon
3. The Prize by Daniel Yergin (4.5/5) - View on Amazon
4. Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air by David J.C. MacKay - View on Amazon
5. Failed States by Noam Chomsky - View on Amazon