ISSN: 2642-6250
Authors: Fumoto H*
Nuclear energy is bound to have a negative impact on the survival of human beings. Although scientists hoped to end all wars, the nuclear arms race resulted in huge amounts of warhead reserves throughout the globe. When we consider the effects of radiation exposure, a hostile attitude is common worldwide, mostly because there is no threshold in radiation exposure, and even a small degree of exposure would cause diseases. This attitude also resulted from the explosion of the atomic bomb, killing many people. The general public became worried about radiation exposure, which led to many lawsuits worldwide. In the United States of America, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) at that time, reorganized as the Department of Energy (DOE) later, encountered a problem when a military plane carrying hydrogen bombs met an accident and crashed in Spain, resulting in contamination of the immediate area. The AEC had a policy in principle that countermeasures against radiation exposure should be as limited as possible. The management of man-made radiation varies from one country to another. Countries like the USA try to find rational and universal applications for human activities, while countries like Japan try to keep utilitarianism even after the Fukushima accident. In this paper, the history of the atomic bomb deployment will be reviewed again in light of its influence on the general public, especially in the context of radiation exposure. The world is gradually shifting in accepting nuclear energy as a part of Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs) climate change solutions. However, radioactive waste is still a significant hurdle in transitioning from fossil fuel to nuclear energy. This study will analyze past events and determine how to proceed with the radiactive waste argument to obtain the general public's reasonable understanding and acceptance.
Keywords: Radiation Protection; Primordial Radioactive Element; Atomic Bomb; High Level Radioactive Waste
