Nuclear à la Hollywood (original) (raw)

2020, Nuclear Engineering International

Popular culture fundamentally shapes the way we understand the world we live in. It serves as a frame for issues we face in life and can help to make complex and seemingly impregnable problems more accessible. Conversely, in the desire to simplify, details are lost-sometimes inconsequential, sometimes crucial to understanding the issue. Nevertheless, the centrality of popular culture to our world is undisputed through the ages-be it in the form of storytelling around the campfire, books, films or indeed, internet memes. Nuclear energy and radiation have a relationship with popular culture which has been particularly colourful since the dawn of the 20th century. It has undergone some rather impressive volte-faces -or mutations- during this period. It went from the friendly atom, which would unlock a utopian future, to the ultimate force of destruction-the ultimate world-ender. For many of us, the very way we understand radiation is a product of popular culture. Few conversations on nuclear-related topics will be without references to mutated monsters, people glowing in the dark, or perceived mass casualties due to accidents. This relationship with radiation is far from uniform, however. Because of the importance of popular culture, it is crucial to understand what pop culture have to say about nuclear energy and radiation. However, one should also examine the processes which underpin the power to shape popular discourse held by popular culture, and how historical focal points have led to the strongly radiophobic-catastrophic discourse we see surrounding radiation and nuclear energy today.