- #1
Vyacheslav
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I've been wondering how the Atomic Age/Cold War Era has changed our cultures, and people.
In Finland, we have, at the moment, quite lot of discussion about nuclear energy, as we are building our fifth NPP, and planning for the sixth. There's also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4948378.stm" in South Finland, as our soil is rich in uranium.
Naturally, there is some opposition to all this. People get emotional, take sides... either you are for, or against. - What's interesting in this, is, seems that it's mostly quite shallow discussion, based on little or no knowledge, and if you are against nuclear power, you are labelled as "green".. which is considered unpatriotic. I think the majority of thinking people in this country are for nuclear power.
Yet I see no stories/articles in our media about nuclear power. There's not much interest in people. If you try to open discussion.. well.. about the history of nuclear power, or try to find more philosophical point of view of man vs. the atom, or cultural, psychological.. there'll be only silence. If I push it little further, you get answer like, "ah, it all happened in foreign countries, they are militaristic, they have atom bombs, it is so different from Finland, it doesn't concern us."
Well, I think, if this country is investing heavily on nuclear power, it's not just energy thing. My guess is that fear keeps people silent. Perhaps they think that nuclear energy is a necessary evil, - you use it, and don't think about, then all will be ok. Or that such considerations are meant only for the professionals. Then there's the language barrier; although all Finns study english language at school, and also french, german, russian - they seldom use these languages, and when confronted by spoken or written english, they will get shy, or even get hostile reaction - "we are Finns, why we must listen this foreign thing.." It's funny.
Then I thought, is it like this in other countries? By googling I easily find such stories I am thinking about, for example, about the history of Oak Ridge: http://web.knoxnews.com/special/0807ww2/" . - Why is this? Is it because cultural difference, or is it because cultural aspects of nuclear technology is such highy specialized field of interest, that you can find no one to discuss with, from a country that has only some 5 million inhabitants?
In Finland, we have, at the moment, quite lot of discussion about nuclear energy, as we are building our fifth NPP, and planning for the sixth. There's also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4948378.stm" in South Finland, as our soil is rich in uranium.
Naturally, there is some opposition to all this. People get emotional, take sides... either you are for, or against. - What's interesting in this, is, seems that it's mostly quite shallow discussion, based on little or no knowledge, and if you are against nuclear power, you are labelled as "green".. which is considered unpatriotic. I think the majority of thinking people in this country are for nuclear power.
Yet I see no stories/articles in our media about nuclear power. There's not much interest in people. If you try to open discussion.. well.. about the history of nuclear power, or try to find more philosophical point of view of man vs. the atom, or cultural, psychological.. there'll be only silence. If I push it little further, you get answer like, "ah, it all happened in foreign countries, they are militaristic, they have atom bombs, it is so different from Finland, it doesn't concern us."
Well, I think, if this country is investing heavily on nuclear power, it's not just energy thing. My guess is that fear keeps people silent. Perhaps they think that nuclear energy is a necessary evil, - you use it, and don't think about, then all will be ok. Or that such considerations are meant only for the professionals. Then there's the language barrier; although all Finns study english language at school, and also french, german, russian - they seldom use these languages, and when confronted by spoken or written english, they will get shy, or even get hostile reaction - "we are Finns, why we must listen this foreign thing.." It's funny.
Then I thought, is it like this in other countries? By googling I easily find such stories I am thinking about, for example, about the history of Oak Ridge: http://web.knoxnews.com/special/0807ww2/" . - Why is this? Is it because cultural difference, or is it because cultural aspects of nuclear technology is such highy specialized field of interest, that you can find no one to discuss with, from a country that has only some 5 million inhabitants?
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