• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2012

Marking the first anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident, which took place on March 11th, 2011, the level of adolescent awareness and understanding of radiation was surveyed, and the results were then compared with those for adults with the same questionnaires conducted at similar times. A qualitative survey and frequency analysis were made for the design of the study methodology. Those surveyed were limited to 3rd grade middle school students, 15 years of age, who are the future generation. The questionnaire, which is a survey tool, was directly distributed to the students and 2,217 answers were analysed. The questionnaires were composed of 40 questions, and it was found that Cronbach's coefficient was high with 'self awareness of radiation' at 0.494, 'risk of radiation' at 0.843, 'benefit of radiation' at 0.748, 'radiological safety control' at 0.692, 'information sources of radiation' at 0.819, and 'impacts of Fukushima accident'. The results of the survey analysis showed that the students' knowledge of radiation was not very high with 67.4 points (69.5 points for adults) calculated on a maximum scale of 100 points (converted points). The impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident were found to be less significant to adolescents than adults, and the rate of answer of "so" or " very so" in the following questions demonstrates this well. It was also shown that the impacts of the Fukushima accident to adolescents were comparatively low with 27.0% (38.9% for adults) on the question of "attitude changed against nuclear power due to the Fukushima accident," 65.7%(86.6% for adults) on the question of "the damages from the Fukushima accident was immeasurably huge," and 65.0% (86.3% for adults) on "the Fukushima accident contributed to raising awareness on the safety of nuclear power plants". The adolescents had a high rate of "average" answers on most of the questions compared with adults, and it can be construed that this resulted from adolescent awareness of radiation not being firmly rooted on themselves. This study was the first of its kind for surveying adolescents regarding the level of awareness of radiation after the Fukushima accident, and the results were compared with the survey results of adults, and they are expected to greatly contribute toward establishing a radiation policy by the government in the future.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.125-148
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• 2014

This paper performs a historical analysis on the various factors contributing to the current carbon lock-in of Korean electricity industry by using techo-institutional complex. The possibilities of the industry's carbon lock-out toward more sustainable development are also investigated. It turns out that market, firm, consumer, and government factors are all responsible for the development of the carbon lock-in of Korean power industry; the Korean government consistently favoring large power plants based on the economy of scale; below-cost electricity tariff; inflation policy to suppress increases in power price; rapid demand growth in summer and winter seasons; rigidities of electricity tariff; and expansion of gas-fired and imported coal-fired large power plants. On the other hand, except for nuclear power generation and smart grid, environment laws and new and renewable energy laws are the other remaining factors contributing to the carbon lock-out. Considering three key points that Korea is an export-oriented economy, the generation mix is the most critical factor to decide the amounts of carbon emission in the power industry, and the share of industry and commercial power consumption is over 85%, it is unlikely that Korea will achieve the carbon lock-out of power industry in the near future. Therefore, there are needs for more integrated approaches from market, firm, consumer, and government all together in order to achieve the carbon lock-out in the electricity industry. Firstly, from the market perspective, it is necessary to persue more active new and renewable energy penetration and to guarantee consumer choices by mitigating the incumbent's monopoly power as in the OECD countries. Secondly, from the firm perspective, the promotion of distributed energy system is urgent, which includes new and renewable resources and demand resources. Thirdly, from the consumer perspective, more green choices in the power tariff and customer awareness on the carbon lock-out are needed. Lastly, the government shall urgently improve power planning frameworks to include the various externalities that were not properly reflected in the past such as environmental and social conflict costs.