Nuclear awareness

Abstract

Nuclear awareness means the critical assertion of the complex phenomenon of nuclear energy and its societal impact. Beyond academic enquiry, nuclear awareness aims to enhance critical societal assessment skills on nuclear energy-related issues in the context of sustainable development. In other words, nuclear awareness is a set of skills, related to nuclear knowledge, that is based on information or experience and triggers critical thinking on the nature of nuclear energy, nuclear agendas, and the opportunities and risks involved. This chapter argues that nuclear awareness is a multi-sided interpretation of national/global nuclear policy, the technological aspects of the nuclear industry, and the nuclear culture components. Using the narrative toolkit of the contemporary nuclear discourse, this chapter analyzes nuclear fiction by focusing on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It analyzes the apprehension of oppositional views on nuclear energy and societal responses to nuclear power challenges within the frame of the global environmental crisis and climate change.