Nuclear Energy: Perception or Reality?

By Emrah Akyüz

Nuclear energy is the most controversial energy source in the 21st century. Both nuclear energy advocates and nuclear energy opponents try to manipulate society by providing incomplete or incorrect information about nuclear energy. Nuclear Energy: Perception or Reality? provides readers with objective information about both the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy and explains many common myths about it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academica Press
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781680536935

Book preview

CHAPTER I:

INTRODUCTION

1. RESEARCH BACKGROUND

Energy is one of the most important needs of human beings. Energy is regularly consumed at many stages of the lives of modern-day people. Energy is considered as one of the most important factors that play a decisive role in the improvement of living standards, the development of the economy, ensuring security, the advancement of technology, the realization of comfortable and safe transportation, and ensuring communication. Without energy, it is not possible for modern societies to maintain and develop their lifestyles. Therefore, energy is one of the most valuable and important tools of the 21st century world. However, the use of energy, which has strategic importance in today’s world, is not a new phenomenon. Energy has been used to facilitate human life since the primitive period.

The history of energy use dates back to ancient times. The energy that people first discovered is renewable energy. The use of wind and sun as energy sources has thousands of years of history. With the use of the power of the wind, goods were transported for commercial purposes by boats and ships. In primitive times, ground mills were used to pump water and grind wheat, but wind power was also used. Wind energy appears to be the most widely used energy source of the primitive period. On the other hand, solar energy was directly utilized. The sun’s rays are used for heating, especially in cold seasons. However, it is not possible to talk about technological developments that can convert renewable energy sources into electricity in these periods.

After renewable energy sources, another energy source that has been used since ancient times is fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels, which is the most important energy source that meets the world’s energy needs after the Industrial Revolution, has thousands of years of history. Mankind has been using oil and coal for thousands of years for different purposes. Primitive people burned oil and coal for heating, cooking, and security purposes. The environmental problems that emerged due to the excessive use of coal in Europe in the First Age and the Middle Ages reached deadly dimensions. For example, in order to prevent deaths caused by air pollution caused by excessive coal use in England, King Edward I, who ruled England from 1271 to 1307, made legal regulations prohibiting the use of coal.¹

The turning point in the history of energy has been the Industrial Revolution. With the economic and social transformation experienced after the Industrial Revolution, the use of fossil fuels has expanded further. With the use of steam-powered machines in production and transportation, especially coal has started to gain more importance. In addition to coal, oil and natural gas consumption have also increased rapidly with technological developments. This momentum, which started with the Industrial Revolution, continued increasingly until the 1950s. Environmental problems caused by excessive consumption of fossil fuels and their effects on public health have triggered an increase in social reaction and a tendency to alternative energy sources, especially in European countries and the USA, since the 1950s. One of these alternative energy sources is nuclear energy.

Since the second half of the 20th century, nuclear energy has been at the center of many countries’ energy policies because fossil fuels are a non-renewable energy source, difficulty accessing reserves due to their availability in certain geographical areas and most importantly, the devastating damage to the environment. During the Cold War, nuclear energy technology experienced rapid progress as the competition between the Western Bloc and the Soviet Union took place in the field of nuclear energy. Advances in nuclear energy technology have made it easier for countries to access this energy source.

The most important factors determining the nuclear energy perspective of countries have been energy crises and nuclear power plant accidents. In the 1970s, the tendency to alternative energy sources to fossil energy sources such as nuclear energy increased more due to the oil crises² that deeply affected the industrialized countries. Countries have started to invest more in nuclear energy in order to meet their energy needs and to ensure energy security. However, the trend toward nuclear energy has come to a standstill or decreasing with the accidents in nuclear power plants. The most important nuclear power plant accident that affects the energy policy of countries against nuclear energy is the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in Ukraine in 1986. The environmental pollution that emerged with the Chernobyl disaster and its chaotic effects on living things have led to more questioning about whether nuclear energy is dangerous for the environment and public health.

With the Chernobyl disaster, while the use of nuclear energy was questioned more, on the other hand, security measures in the field of nuclear energy were tried to be increased more. In order to prevent nuclear power plant accidents like Chernobyl, nuclear technology has made remarkable progress in terms of safety. The view that nuclear power plants, which are protected with high-security measures, do not pose a risk in terms of the environment and public health, gained more prevalence towards the beginning of the 21st century with the reduction of the risk of accidents. However, the public support that has developed in favor of nuclear energy has tended to decrease again with the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident that took place in Japan in 2011. In the 25 years between the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and the Fukushima disaster in 2011, despite the important developments in nuclear energy technology, the failure to prevent nuclear power plant accidents has led to an increase in nuclear energy opposition all over the world.

Judging nuclear energy only by the environmental pollution caused by nuclear power plant accidents and its effects on living life gives rise to a one-sided perspective. Because when we look at the other side of the coin, it is seen that nuclear energy has significant advantages over other energy sources. One of the most important arguments of nuclear energy advocates is the view that nuclear energy can be a successful tool in the fight against climate change, which is considered the most important environmental problem of our time. The view that nuclear energy, which does not directly cause the intake of greenhouse gases during energy production, can be an effective instrument in the fight against climate change triggered by greenhouse gases caused by the use of fossil fuels is accepted by many people.

Nuclear energy is the most discussed energy source of the 21st century. Although nuclear energy is an energy source that has both advantages and disadvantages in terms of environment, public health and economy, nuclear energy opponents and advocates look at only one side of the coin and try to channel the society in this direction. The inadequacy of objective scientific studies on nuclear energy and the excess of subjective studies increase the manipulation of nuclear energy even more. The one-sided view of nuclear energy opponents and advocates of nuclear energy in visual and written media triggers the problem to deepen. All these processes cause information pollution about nuclear energy at the social level and affect the attitudes of individuals towards nuclear energy. For this reason, there is a need for scientific studies that take nuclear energy objectively and examine both sides of the coin, namely its advantages and disadvantages, at the point of enlightening society.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy in terms of environment, economy and public health, opportunities and risks, advantages and disadvantages, etc. In this scientific work, two basic research questions are tried to be answered. First, what are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy in terms of environment³, public health and economy? Second, what are the factors affecting individuals’ attitudes towards nuclear energy?

2. THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

There are many scientific studies on nuclear energy at the international level. Nuclear energy is investigated from different perspectives in both positive sciences and social sciences. Nuclear energy is most commonly studied by disciplines such as economics, environmental science, sociology, law, and political science. However, most of these studies fall short on two points. First, when dealing with nuclear energy, only one side of the coin is looked at or tried to be brought to the fore. Proponents of nuclear energy generally focus only on the advantages of nuclear energy, while opponents of nuclear energy focus on the disadvantages of nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy is an energy source with both advantages and disadvantages. Nuclear energy is neither perfect, as its proponents claim, nor is it a source of energy that we must look at with fear, as its opponents have stated. As with any energy source, nuclear energy has opportunities and risks for society, the economy and the environment. Scientific studies need to objectively show both sides of the coin, that is, examine both the pros and cons of nuclear energy. This study is neither nuclear energy advocacy nor opposition to nuclear energy. One of the original aspects of this work is that it allows individuals to learn nuclear energy in all its dimensions, that is, to present both sides of the coin to readers in an objective framework.

One of the other important shortcomings of existing studies is that they are not comprehensive enough. In order to better understand nuclear energy, first of all, it is necessary to examine the energy issue in detail. Nuclear energy is an energy source that has emerged to meet the increasing energy demand. For this reason, focusing solely on nuclear energy without discussing the importance of energy in human life and the economy in modern societies, the scope and environmental effects of existing energy sources, the pros and cons of other energy sources, constitutes an obstacle to a healthy analysis of the subject. This study first examines energy, the importance of energy, the use of energy in the historical process, energy resources and the world’s energy view from different dimensions, and then discusses the opportunities and risks of nuclear energy with an inclusive approach. This book allows readers to make sense of nuclear energy within the energy context.

The most original aspect of this study is the analysis of nuclear energy in the light of previously unpublished data. There have been two major nuclear power plant accidents in the world. The first of these is the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in Ukraine in 1986. The second is the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident that took place in Japan in 2011. The two most serious nuclear power plant accidents in the history of nuclear energy are very important for our understanding of nuclear energy. However, scientists who do scientific studies on nuclear energy do not have a comprehensive study of these two nuclear disasters. The author of this book, Dr. Emrah Akyuz, within the scope of his doctorate at the University of Leeds, England, has conducted long-term scientific research in the region where both the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents occurred.

As the first and only Turkish scientist to have conducted scientific studies in the regions of Fukushima and Chernobyl, where the largest nuclear power plant accidents occurred in our history, this book discusses nuclear energy and uses original data obtained from field studies conducted in 2017. Visual materials about Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents that have not been shared or used elsewhere before are presented to the readers for the first time in this work. One of the most important disadvantages of nuclear energy is the possible accident risk and its environmental and social effects. The materials and information presented in this study about the Fukushima and Chernobyl accidents allow us to better understand the extent of the accidents to be experienced in nuclear power plants.

3. TARGET AUDIENCE

Nuclear energy is widely discussed by four main groups which constitute the main target audience of this book. The first of these are scientists and researchers. Nuclear energy is not adequately studied in the field of social sciences. The social, environmental and economic dimensions of nuclear energy are important issues that need to be addressed. There are either not enough studies in this area or studies generally examine events and cases from a single window. In other words, scientific studies in the field of social sciences related to nuclear energy generally focus on one side of the coin, that is, only or heavily, on its advantages or disadvantages. For this reason, there is a need for objective works that deal with nuclear energy from different perspectives for social scientists and researchers working in the field of nuclear energy. This book has been created as a work that scientists and researchers working in the field of nuclear energy can benefit from in their scientific studies.

The second main target audience of this book is politicians and bureaucrats who shape energy policies. Which energy sources in a country and how they will be used are determined by the policies created by the decision-makers. Building or not building nuclear power plants in a country is determined only by the initiative of the politicians who rule the country. It is a situation seen in modern democracies that this decision is taken by the people by taking it to a referendum. But both situations depend on the will of the politicians. For this reason, it is very important for politicians and bureaucrats working in this field to have objective and internationally accepted information on topics such as energy, energy resources, nuclear energy, advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy, in order to take rational and healthy decisions about energy policies. This book is a scientific study that allows politicians and bureaucrats to have a comprehensive knowledge of energy and nuclear energy.

The third target audience of this scientific study is non-governmental organizations. Nuclear energy is one of the main areas of interest of many non-governmental organizations in the world. Especially environmentalist non-governmental organizations show great interest in this issue due to the environmental effects of nuclear energy. It is possible to see the demonstrations and works of non-governmental organizations on nuclear energy in many parts of the world. However, it is questionable to what extent non-governmental organizations act objectively on this issue. Discourses that focus on only one side of nuclear energy and the activities that result from it are the subject of criticism. The main reason for the existence of non-governmental organizations is not to oppose or advocate nuclear energy, but to encourage politicians to make decisions for the benefit of society and nature. It will be beneficial for society to raise awareness of non-governmental organizations with scientific and consistent information on nuclear energy. This study includes studies that can contribute to the scientific knowledge of non-governmental organizations working in the field of nuclear energy about energy and energy-environment relationship.

The issue of nuclear energy is also discussed in society, away from the scientific framework. Individuals tend to view nuclear energy from a political perspective. Nuclear energy is not discussed over the opportunities and risks posed by this energy source in terms of society, economy, and environment. The number of individuals who evaluate nuclear energy through the discourses of the political parties they support is quite high. Especially those living around nuclear power plants determine their attitudes towards nuclear energy with the discourses they hear from the media and the politicians around them. This situation causes individuals to be manipulated or misled about nuclear energy. For this reason, another of the main target groups of this scientific study is individuals who have been manipulated with unscientific information about nuclear energy or consciously directed for certain political goals.

Another platform where nuclear energy is talked about the most is the media sector. Nuclear energy is discussed and examined from different perspectives in the written and visual media. However, it is not possible to say that those working in the media have comprehensive and impartial knowledge about nuclear energy. Since the media is one of the most important influence mechanisms that guide and provide information to the society with their news and studies, it seems important for media workers to have objective information on nuclear energy in terms of informing the society correctly. Therefore, another target audience of this book is those who work in written and visual media.

4. SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS

This study consists of five main parts. In