• 한국안전학회지
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.139-147
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• 2016

Nuclear energy is considerably cheap and clean compared to other fossil fuels. Yet, there are rising safety concerns of nuclear power plants including the possibility of radiation releasing nuclear accidents. In light of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, Japan has been re-evaluating their existing energy policies and increasing the share of alternative energy. This paper first tracks the major historical changes of energy policy in Japan by time period. Next, energy security, reignited concerns and alternative energy are covered to examine Japan's energy security situation and its transition after the Fukushima disaster. Lastly, a short survey based on thematic analysis was conducted in South Korea and Japan to understand the public awareness of nuclear. This paper postulates that the case of Fukushima will contribute to establish and operate a safe-future nuclear program in South Korea, given that the country is not only geographically neighbouring Japan but also the world's fourth largest producer of nuclear energy.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.172-195
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• 2015

Multiple nationwide opinion surveys, carried out by the government (cabinet office), major media (national newspapers and NHK), the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, have revealed that the Fukushima nuclear accident has heightened people's perception of disaster risks, fear of nuclear accidents, and increased recognition of pollution issues, and has changed public opinion on nuclear energy policy. The opinion gap on nuclear energy policy between specialists and lay people has widened since the disaster. The results of the Japanese General Social Survey data show that objections to the promotion of nuclear energy are strong among females, and weaker among young males and the supporters of the LDP. These findings are similar to the data collected after the Chernobyl accident. People who live in a 70km radius of nuclear plants tend to evaluate nuclear disaster risks higher. Distance from nuclear plants and the perception of earthquake risk interactively correlate with opinions on nuclear issues. Among people whose evaluation of earthquake risk is low, those who live nearer to the plants are more likely to object to the abolishment of nuclear plants. It was also found that the nuclear disaster has changed people's behavior; they now try to save electricity. The level of commitment to energy saving is found to relate to opinions on nuclear issues.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.66-79
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• 2021

Background: The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is specified in the Disaster Counter-measures Basic Act as a designated public corporation for dealing with nuclear disasters. Materials and Methods: The Nuclear Emergency Assistance and Training Center (NEAT) was established in 2002 as the activity base providing technical assistance to both national and local governments during nuclear emergencies. The NEAT has a robust structure and utilities and special installations, and it organizes training and exercises. Results and Discussion: Due to an offshore earthquake that caused a devastating tsunami in March 2011, a nuclear accident occurred at the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The NEAT responded by conducting off-site environmental radiation monitoring and contamination screening, dispatching special vehicles, offering telephone consultations, and calculating the dispersion of radioactive materials. An examination of the emergency response activities revealed that the organization was prepared for these types of disasters and was able to plan long-term response. Conclusion: As a designated public corporation, the JAEA technically supports the national government, the Fukushima prefectural government, and the Ibaraki prefectural government, all of which responded to the off-site emergencies resulting from the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident

• 과학기술학연구
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.107-144
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• 2012

2011년 3월에 일본 후쿠시마에서 발생한 핵사고의 영향 때문에 최근 한국 사회에서도 에너지 미래에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있다. 한국 정부는 에너지 수요가 계속 증가할 것이라는 전제 하에 원자력 발전 확대 정책을 고수하는 반면, 한국의 시민사회와 진보정당들은 핵발전소를 단계적으로 폐지하자는 탈핵 주장을 잇달아 내놓고 있다. 최근 시민사회 쪽 연구자들에 의해 정부의 공식적인 시나리오와는 다른 대안적인 에너지 시나리오들이 발표되면서 앞으로 정부 쪽의 주류 시나리오와 시민사회 쪽의 대안적 시나리오 사이에 경합이 불가피한 상황이다. 이 글은 2008년에 결정된 제1차 국가에너지기본계획에 포함된 에너지 시나리오와 2012년에 발표된 시민사회단체들의 에너지 시나리오들의 내용을 인식론적이고 방법론적인 기반, 가치 지향성, 제도적 기반, 그리고 시나리오 등장의 사회적 배경 등의 측면에서 비교함으로써 한국의 에너지 시나리오를 둘러싼 '전문성의 정치'를 분석하고 있다. 전문성의 정치란 누구의 지식과 전문성을 정당한 것으로 인정할 것인지 혹은 어떤 지식과 접근법을 가치 있고 믿을만한 것으로 여겨야 하는가를 둘러싸고 사람들 사이에서 형성되는 갈등적 경합과정이다. 분석 결과, 정부의 에너지 시나리오는 과학주의적 인식론과 포캐스팅 방법론에 기반하고 있고, 가치중립성에 의거한 전문가주의를 표방하고 있으며, 에너지 수급에 대한 기존 추세를 전제로 주로 정부연구소의 신고전파 경제학자들에 의해 작성되었음을 알 수 있었다. 반면에 시민사회의 대안 시나리오는 구성주의적인 인식론과 백캐스팅 방법론에 기반하고, 시민참여와 같은 적극적인 가치개입을 주장하고 있으며, 후쿠시마 핵사고를 직접적인 계기로 하여 대학과 시민사회의 다양한 학문적 배경을 지닌 연구자들에 의해 작성되었다는 점을 발견할 수 있었다.

• 미술이론과 현장
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• 제13호
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• pp.35-71
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• 2012

The purpose of this essay is to examine the responses of artists on nuclear experiences through an analysis of the nuclear images represented in contemporary Japanese art. Japan has previously as twice experienced nuclear disaster in 20th century. The first atomic bombs were dropped in 1945 as well as the 5th Fukuryumaru, Japanese pelagic fishing boat, exposed by hydrogen bomb test operated by the US in 1954 nearby Bikini atoll. Due to Tsunami taken place by the great earthquake that caused the meltdown of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March 2010, Japan is being experienced a nuclear disaster again. Despite practical experiences, comtemporary Japanese art has avoided the subject of nuclear disasters since the end of the Asia-Pacific War for a variety of reasons. Firstly, GHQ prohibited to record or depict the terrible effect of atomic bomb until 1946. Secondly, Japanese government has tried to sweep the affair under the carpet quite a while a fact of nuclear damage to their people. Because Japan has produced numerous war record paintings during the Second World War, in the aftermath of the defeated war, most of Japanese artists thought that dealing with politics, economics, and social subject was irrelevant to art as well as style of amateur in order to erase their melancholic memory on it. In addition, silence that was intended to inhibit victims of nuclear disasters from being provoked psychologically has continued the oblivion on nuclear disasters. For these reasons, to speak on nuclear bombs has been a kind of taboo in Japan. However, shortly after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the artist couple Iri and Toshi Maruki visited to ruin site as a volunteer for Victim Relief. They portrayed the horrible scenes of the legacy of nuclear bomb since 1950 based on their observation. Under the condition of rapid economical growth in 1960s and 1970s, Japanese subculture such as comics, TV animations, plastic model, and games produced a variety of post apocalyptic images recalling the war between the USA and Japanese militarism, and battle simulation based on nuclear energy. While having grown up watching subculture emerged as Japan Neo-Pop in 1990s, New generation appreciate atomic images such as mushroom cloud which symbolizes atomic bomb of Hiroshima. Takashi Murakami and other Neo-Pop artists appropriate mushroom cloud image in their work. Murakami curated three exhibitions including and persists in superflat and infantilism as an evidence in order to analyze contemporary Japanese society. However, his concept, which is based on atomic bomb radiation exposure experience only claimed on damage and sacrifice, does not reflect Japan as the harmer. Japan has been constructing nuclear power plants since 1954 in the same year when the 5th Fukuryumaru has exposed until the meltdown of Fukushima Nuclear Plant although took place of nuclear radiation exposures of Three Mile and Chernobyl. Due to the exploding of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, Japan reconsiders the danger of nuclear disaster. In conclusion, the purpose of this paper may be found that the sense of victim which flowed in contemporary art is able to inquire into the response of artist on the subject of nuclear as well as the relationship between society, politics, culture, and modern history of Japan and international political situation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권7호
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• pp.1414-1422
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• 2017

Remote response technology has advanced to the extent that a robot system, if properly designed and deployed, may greatly help respond to beyond-design-basis accidents at nuclear power plants. Particularly in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, there is increasing interest in developing disaster robots that can be deployed in lieu of a human operator to the field to perform mitigating actions in the harsh environment caused by extreme natural hazards. The nuclear robotics team of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is also endeavoring to construct disaster robots and, first of all, is interested in finding out to what extent safety benefits can be achieved by such a disaster robotic system. This paper discusses a new approach based on the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) technique, which can be used to quantify safety benefits associated with disaster robots, along with a case study for seismic-induced station blackout condition. The results indicate that to avoid core damage in this special case a robot system with reliability > 0.65 is needed because otherwise core damage is inevitable. Therefore, considerable efforts are needed to improve the reliability of disaster robots, because without assurance of high reliability, remote response techniques will not be practically used.

• 경영과학
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.139-148
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• 2013

A nuclear energy has been one of the most important sources to securely supply electricity in South Korea. Its weight in the national electricity supply has kept increasing since the first nuclear reactor was built in 1978. The country relies on the nuclear approximately 31.4% in 2012 and it is expected to increase to 48.5% in 2024 based on the long-term electricity supply plan announced by the Korean government. However, Fukushima disaster due to 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by the tsunami has raised deep concerns on the security of the nuclear power plants. The policy makers of the country are much interested in analyzing the cost structure of the power supply in the case that the nuclear is diminished from the current supply portion. This research uses a stochastic model that aims to evaluate the long-term power supply plan and provides an extensive cost analysis on the changes of the nuclear power supply. To evaluate a power supply plan, the research develops a few plausible energy mix scenarios by changing the installed capacities of energy sources from the long-term electricity supply plan. The analyses show that the nuclear is still the most attractive energy source since its fuel cost is very much stable compared to the other sources. Also the results demonstrate that a large amount of financial expenditure is additionally required every year if Koreans agree on the reduction of nuclear to increase national security against a nuclear disaster.

• 한국콘텐츠학회논문지
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.222-235
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• 2019

2011년 발생한 후쿠시마 원전사고 이후 국제사회에서 원자력정책은 침체기에 접어들었으나 우리나라는 박근혜 정부까지 약 60여 년 동안 친원전 정책을 유지하는 경로의존성을 보여주었다. 하지만 2017년 탈원전 정책을 공약으로 내세운 문재인 정부 출범 이후 기존의 친원전 정책은 경로의존성에서 이탈하는 양상을 보이게 되었다. 본 연구는 역사적 제도주의를 중심으로 2008년 이명박 정부 시기부터 2018년 문재인 정부 까지 한국의 원자력정책 변동 과정을 고찰하였다. 연구결과 후쿠시마 원전 사고라는 외부 환경은 중대한 전환점이 되어 정부의 원자력 정책의 변동을 초래하였다. 제도적 맥락 측면에서 원자력정책의 패러다임, 정책결정구조, 법령 등에 영향을 미쳤고 행위자 측면에서도 정치 이념 및 국민 수용성에 영향을 주었다. 2017년 문재인 정부출범 이후 탈원전 정책이 제도적 기반을 확보하고 기존의 친원전 정책에서 탈원전으로 근본적인 정책 변동이 이루어지게 되었다. 이를 통해 문재인 정부의 에너지 정책은 이전 정부들의 원전 중심의 경로의존성에서 벗어나 단절적 균형이 발생하였고 재생에너지 중심으로 정책이 변동되었음을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.319-326
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• 2018

Since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, concern and worry about multiunit accidents have been increasing. Korea has a higher urgency to evaluate its site risk because its number of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and population density are higher than those in other countries. Since the 1980s, technical documents have been published on multiunit probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), but the Fukushima accident accelerated research on multiunit PSA. It is therefore necessary to summarize the present situation and draw implications for further research. This article reviews journal and conference papers on multiunit or site risk evaluation published between 2011 and 2016. The contents of the reviewed literature are classified as research status, initiators, and methodologies representing dependencies, and the insights and conclusions are consolidated. As of 2017, the regulatory authority and nuclear power utility have launched a full-scale project to assess multiunit risk in Korea. This article provides comprehensive reference materials on the necessary enabling technology for subsequent studies of multiunit or site risk assessment.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.117-124
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• 2013

Objective: This paper presents additional considerations related to organization and safety culture extracted from recent human error incidents in Korea, such as station blackout(i.e., SBO) in Kori#1. Background: Safety culture has been already highlighted as a major cause of human errors after 1986 Chernobyl accident. After Fukushima accident in Japan, the public acceptance for nuclear energy has taken its toll. Organizational characteristics and culture became elucidated as a major contributor again. Therefore many nuclear countries are re-evaluating their safety culture, and discussing any preparedness and its improvement. On top of that, there was an SBO in 2012 in the Kori#1. Korean public feels frustrated due to the similar human errors causing to a catastrophe like Fukushima accident. Method: This paper reassesses Japan's incidents, and revisits Korea's recent incidents. It focuses on the analysis of the hazards rather than the causes of human errors, the derivation of countermeasures, and their implementation. The preceding incidents and conclusions from Japanese experience are also re-analyzed. The Fukushima accident was an SBO due to the natural disaster such as earthquakes and a successive tsunami. Unlike the Fukushima accident, the Kori#1 incident itself was simple and restored without any loss and radioactive release. However, the fact that the incident was deliberately concealed led to massive distrust. Moreover, the continued violation of rules and organized concealment of the accident are serious signs of a new distorted type of human errors, blatantly revealing the cultural and fundamental weakness of the current organization. Result: We should learn from Japanese experiences who had taken pride in its safety technology and fairly high confidence in safety culture. Japan's first criticality accident in JCO facility splashed cold water on that confidence. It has turned out to be a typical case revealing the problems in the organization and safety culture. Since Japan has failed to gain lessons and countermeasure, the issue persists to the Fukushima incident. Conclusion: Safety culture is not a specific independent element, which makes it difficult to either evaluate it properly or establish countermeasures from the lessons. It may continue to expose similar human errors such as concealment of incident and manipulation of bad data. Application: Not only will this work establish the course of research for organization and safety culture, but this work will also contribute to the revitalization of Korea's nuclear industry from the disappointment after the export contract to UAE.