Do the following images invoke fear?
Everyone has different fears. These fears are usually irrational (spiders, snakes, heights), and we have no good reason for these fears. However, there is a rational fear that has been consistent from 1944-today; the fear of nuclear power. Whether its the fear of a Chernobyl type incident, or the fear of an all out nuclear war, we all have doubts about nuclear power. Maybe its because we don’t know enough about it, or we know too much, but the fear is there. And for around the last 60 years, this fear has fluctuated from mild to extreme, due to certain events, and different portrayals in the media.
1979- The China Syndrome:
This fictional film contains a numerous amount of information and concepts relating to fear. In China Syndrome, the plot revolves around the issue of whether to keep a nuclear plant open or not. In the film, many people fear the effect of nuclear power on the environment and future generations. Due to this fear, these people want a nuclear plant shut down, even though it produces a valuable new type of energy. However, fear drives people on the other side of this argument as well. People who run and work at the plant fear losing their jobs more than the radiation itself. This causes them to attempt to hide problems with the nuclear plant, which censors what the general public knows. But a high ranking official at the nuclear plant becomes so fearful of a nuclear accident that he takes the reactor’s workers hostage and shuts it down. When a news reporter finds out about this, she fills the general public in on the story. The China Syndrome is a great example of how fear affects what the public knows about nuclear energy.
Impact on the public:
For some members of the public, this movie was their first look at the dangers of a nuclear accident. This raised fear levels since people were now aware of what could go wrong at a nuclear plant. It may have also made people suspicious of nuclear plant workers, since the workers in the movie try so hard to cover up the accident.
Fear Meter: Moderate Fear (6)
1986- The accident at Chernobyl:
The nuclear reactor at Chernobyl was one of the Soviet Union’s most successful reactors, at least until one fateful night in 1986. During a late night safety test, the Reactor unexpectedly sprang a leak, which led to a catastrophic steam explosion, and started a graphite fire.
The town of Chernobyl was evacuated and the area remains uninhabited today. Quite a few factors led to this infamous accident. According to the World Nuclear Association, the Reactor had a “flawed design”, and was run by “inadequately trained personnel”. This accident caused a large outbreak of fear in the public. For one, reactor workers feared that their reactor could be next.
Also, people living near reactors now truly understood the risk they were exposing themselves to. The accident at Chernobyl was a disaster that heightened fears and is, to this day, the worst nuclear accident of all time.
Impact on the public:
Although there had been accidents before Chernobyl, this accident received huge amounts of exposure, and became a topic of debate all around the world. Should nuclear reactors remain open? As stated above, the accident raised fears for all different types of people. The fear of radiation was growing, and like Chernobyl’s fallout, it could not be contained.
Fear meter: Very Fearful (7)
2006- Nuclear Nightmare:
This BBC documentary examines the effect of radiation poisoning on people and animals who were near the Chernobyl site, during and after it had a massive nuclear accident. The documentary is full of facts to back up a hard hitting message; the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, and the fear of radiation in general, is extremely overhyped by its portrayal in the media. The documentary goes on to explain that what the media reported about the fallout from the Chernobyl accident was extremely false and reveals that only around 100 people died from the “disaster”.
It also continues to examine the real dangers of radiation in itself. It describes how radiation will actually only harm us in extremely high doses, contrary to popular belief. The documentary explains how our own fear is what causes our beliefs about the lethality of radiation. It also describes how the accident at Chernobyl “sent a radioactive plume of fear across Europe” which is what caused the false reports of high casualties. To sum it all up, our own fear of radiation is the most dangerous thing about it.
Impact on the public:
This documentary came at a time where the threat of nuclear accidents/ bombing was not extremely high. Sure, the threat was there, with more countries developing nuclear bombs, but the threat was nowhere near what it had been just a couple of decades earlier.
Fear meter: Low Fear (4)
Current Day- UN Debates Banning Nuclear Weapons:
A recent article in the New York Times states that a group of more than 120 countries (out of the 193 currently in the UN) have been lobbying to outlaw nuclear arms. This effort (headed by Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, and Sweden) is “strongly supported by disarmament groups”. The reason for this effort seems clear; all of the countries leading this effort do not possess nuclear arms. We can assume that this proposal is based out of fear. With tensions growing between the likes of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jing Un, the threat of a nuclear war is present. This fear of a nuclear war, that is eating away at many people, is the reason that these countries are lobbying to ban nuclear weapons. But while this proposal seems like it would benefit the world greatly, fear plays a part in the opposition as well. Countries such as the United States, Britain, and Russia oppose the proposal, for fear that a development of nuclear bombs would continue despite the ban. US ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, spoke to these fears after the last UN meeting: “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons, but we have to be realistic. Is there anyone who thinks that North Korea would ban nuclear weapons?” This fear is not unwarranted, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has proved to be a bit of a loose cannon, to say the least. There is one thing that is hard to ignore about this situation; most countries who support the proposal do not posses nuclear weapons, most countries who are against it have nuclear weapons at their disposal. It appears that fear is driving this proposal, and fear is blocking it from ever happening. It would take almost complete world cooperation for a proposal like this to ever be approved.
Impact on the public:
Although a nuclear war could quite literally wipe out entire countries, it is still a thought in the edge of people’s minds. While it seems that a nuclear war is unlikely, we have been shown that world leaders are ready to use the weapons at their disposal. We saw an example of this last week when Donald Trump dropped the “Mother of all Bombs” on an ISIS stronghold in Afghanistan. Simply, we are not expecting a nuclear war, but the fear is there.
Fear meter: Moderate Fear (5)
So how else does the fear of radiation effect us today:
Other than the issues on nuclear war presented above, we have other fears about nuclear power. After the accident at Fukushima, people are still concerned about nuclear reactors. However, In my opinion, the most dangerous thing about nuclear power is the way we handle it. Nuclear power could be very useful, but only if it is used in the right way. We worry about nuclear accidents, yet we build reactors in places such as California and Japan, which are notorious for their high amounts of earthquakes. Also, we fear the nuclear bomb, yet countries still threaten other countries with it. Until we learn our lesson and learn to better control nuclear power, we will always fear it’s dangerous potential.
Well, I guess that’s it. For more than 60 years, the threat of nuclear power has been present in out minds, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
*Bonus tip: If you find your country is about to become the target of a nuclear bombing, don’t head for the nearest shelter, simply just hide in a fridge!
