A long view of nuclear
20 October 2014
More than a century has passed since radiation and nuclear energy were discovered and the image of those energy sources has undergone much evolution with the passing of several cultural waves, each of which left its mark on the public's perception and attitude to nuclear power, writes Jeremy Gordon.
At the time radiation was discovered, in 1898, science was in an era of rapid progress with new inventions changing the world before their downsides were known. There were no controls on what was said about radiation and deliberate myth-making by some early nuclear scientists and salesmen connected radiation deeply with biology and life, while also supposing that radiation possessed almost unlimited potential in these areas and others.
Although these ideas proved to be fantasies, they were in parallel with a concept that had been developing in several science fiction novels - that of a 'mad scientist' who through error or misjudgement might accidentally unleash a force beyond his control or even destroy the world. So it is no wonder that, as the world stood horrified by the destruction by the first atomic bombs during the last days of World War II, the nuclear scientists themselves were also shocked to the core.
Nevertheless, Western societies in the post-War period retained huge respect for the scientists and engineers that had contributed to the war effort, and experts were trusted to lay a path for the civil use of nuclear energy. In theory, nuclear power projects are well suited to this top-down concept, where stable policy is enacted according to impartial analysis of need.
With the Cold War began a period of multiplied fears, where opposing superpowers built their strength to make the other fear dreadful retaliation, and where the power of individual nuclear weapons and their delivery systems ballooned to cataclysmic proportions. Spurred on by tragic documented health impacts on people too close to tests, some campaigners used fear as their tool against the testing and development of the weapons. They promoted the idea that any amount of radiation, no matter how small, could cause grievous health consequences.
This neat combination of two of the earliest nuclear myths - the supposed special effect on life and unlimited potential - has had knock-on effects for industry and the public ever since, notably now in Fukushima prefecture where many members of the public fear levels of radiation that are lower than natural background levels found in other parts of the world.
One summary is that we set out to scare ourselves about nuclear weapons, but we scared ourselves about nuclear power at the same time.
Since then cultural shifts have downgraded the influence of experts and elevated the views of the general public to create more of a bottom-up system of society in many countries.
This contributed to making nuclear development difficult outside centrally-planned economies. One characteristic of a bottom-up system is a public disinclination towards large projects, large companies and government itself, and an inclination towards smaller alternatives. And clearly the timescales of a nuclear project might be too long for shifting government policies that track public opinion. At the same time, of course, the persistent cocktail of fears described above remains to motivate some of the more powerful public comment against nuclear power.
Today, neither top-down nor bottom-up systems seem effective at tackling the current main global issue of climate change, which is becoming gradually more and more frightening to the public. But it's possible that a new period may be starting and may well offer a third option.
Apparently due to the distribution of influence brought by the internet, new leaders are emerging in the form of educated young people that have achieved success due to their own engineering or entrepreneurial actions. Think of the new breed of billionaire app developers. They are neither experts from the 'top', nor people from the 'bottom'.
At the same time, nuclear technology is looking again to designs that are smaller and more flexible than those of the current mainstream, and the start-up reactor companies better fit the current mindset that tends to encourage the bottom-up approach.
One optimistic conclusion is that it is possible that a new phase for society will enable nuclear power to find new leaders, while at the same time it finds new products. Some long-overdue revision to nuclear power's long-term image could follow.
Jeremy Gordon
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Jeremy Gordon is Head of Information Management at the World Nuclear Association. This article summarises some ideas presented and discussed at the Nuclear Science Week Public Symposium by the author as well as Suzy Hobbs Baker of the Nuclear Literacy Project, Jessica Lovering of the Breakthrough Institute, Todd Allen of Idaho National Laboratory, Gwyneth Cravens author of Power to Save the World, Jim Conca of UFA Ventures and Kirsty Gogan of Energy For Humanity. The event took place at the Pacific Science Center, Seattle, USA, from 16-17 October 2014.