Educational dialogue on public perception of nuclear radiation

Abstract

Purpose

Across the world, nuclear radiation and its effects on the population has been the topic of back-burner debates, given the strong emotional connotations involved. We believe that education is crucial for people to make informed decisions regarding nuclear energy. With a science-technology-society (STS) approach, a seminar-style educational module on Radiation and Society was formulated at Tembusu College, National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2015. This primarily aimed to equip students with the necessary analytical tools to assess evidence and thus, evaluate existing assumptions on radiation/nuclear power/nuclear energy, the effects on mankind and societal perception of radiation.

Methods

Radiation and Society was a seminar-style module which consisted of weekly 3-hour interactive sessions for 13 weeks. Throughout the semester, students were acquainted with themes and concepts related to radiation and society, such as the historical dimensions, radiation science, role in medicine, the psychology of radiation fear, existing radiation myths, complexities in radiation disaster response, communication of risks and emergency preparedness. Discussions during the sessions covered a variety of topics, including ionizing radiation as a result of nuclear fall-out, historical contextualization of nuclear fear, and uses of radiation in (bio)medicine, STS and science communication. Field visits to research reactors and cancer centers were arranged to showcase the diverse applications of nuclear radiation. Experts involved in various related spheres of influence shared their perspectives on matters such as technological developments in emergency preparedness, nuclear reactors, and societal impacts.

Results

The interactive facilitator-student sessions helped educate young minds about nuclear radiation. A post-course survey was conducted to obtain opinions of students on their perceptions of reliability and safety of nuclear energy, effectiveness of the seminar, and where radiation ranked relative to alternative energy sources. Overall findings of the survey indicated that although nuclear energy was perceived as a safe and reliable substitute, renewable energy was considered a better option. Participants felt that, as per the learning objectives, the sessions were effective in improving awareness regarding nuclear energy.

Conclusion

This seminar-style module equipped students with the analytical tools required to critically assess sources of knowledge and social perceptions of radiation. In addition to the concluding perceptions toward nuclear energy from the post-course survey, a pre-module/course survey to reveal changes in student attitudes is planned to aid refinement of the course in future iterations. Such educational efforts will allow students to be aware of both the pros and cons of nuclear radiation and thus, construct informed opinions.

Keywords:

• Nuclear radiation
• public perception
• educational dialogue
• Science, Technology and Society (STS)
• science communication

Acknowledgements

MPH acknowledges Associate Professor Gregory K Clancey, Department of History and Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, and Master of Tembusu College (2010 – 2019) for his support in developing this seminar-style module. Professor Rethy K Chhem, and Minister Delegate, Prime Minister’s office, Cambodia and Former Director of Human Health Division, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria is thanked for his support, encouragement, discussion, and participation in conducting this seminar since its inception. Dr Catelijne Coopmans is thanked for initial help in setting up the seminar module and Ms. Sonja Courtney Jun Hui Chua is acknowledged for her assistance in designing assignments and guidelines for debate/final dialogue for the module. Dr J. Fernando is thanked for critically reading the manuscript and Dr Veena Hande is acknowledged for editing the manuscript. The authors would like to thank all the students of Radiation and Society Seminar (module codes: GEM2910/UTC1117) for their participation in the module and consent to disclose survey results and photographs and Mr. Vesshnu Sutharsan for his help during the initial survey data analysis. We acknowledge the involvement of all the experts over the years (Prof Rethy K Chhem, Prof Andrew C Palmer, Assoc Prof Gregory K Clancey, Dr Victor Nian, Dr Keith Hsiu Chin Lim, Mr. Lim Soon Heng, Dr. Melvin Lee Kiang Chua, Dr Balamurugan A Vellayappan, Professor Shunichi Yamashita). We are grateful to the director general, administration, and corporate office of Agensi Nuklear Malaysia for permission to visit the research reactor and other nuclear facilities. More details on the study design and syllabus can be obtained from MPH on a collaborative basis, if interested.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The field trips and visits by guest lecturers were supported by the Tembusu College, National University of Singapore.

Notes on contributors

Varsha Hande

Varsha Hande, MBBS, MSc (Public Health), is currently a medical research fellow at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Center – Advanced Center for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Mumbai, India. After her MSc in Public Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Varsha was a visiting researcher at the Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Singapore. She spent a year as an intern at the Division of Human Health, International Atomic Energy Agency (2019 − 2020). She is pursuing her PhD from the Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Japan in 2021. Varsha analyzed the survey data and wrote the manuscript.

Karthik Prathaban

Karthik Prathaban, BE (Mechanical Engineering) is a graduate student at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore. He pursued the Radiation and Society module as a student of Tembusu College (NUS) in 2017 and assisted in conducting module activities as an alumnus thereafter. Karthik analyzed the survey data and wrote the manuscript.

M. Prakash Hande

M. Prakash Hande, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor at the Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS) and was a Fellow at Tembusu College (NUS) (2011 − 2021). Dr Hande is one of the pioneers who identified the role of DNA repair factors in telomere regulation in mammalian systems and is an expert in Radiation Biodosimetry. His research interests are biomarkers of radiation exposure, DNA-repair-telomeres-telomerase in aging and cancer, experimental cancer therapeutics. Dr Hande teaches cancer biology and aging and conducted integrated study module on Biomedicine and Society and Radiation and Society. Dr. Hande is a Visiting Scientist at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan. He was a consultant at the Division of Human Health, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria in 2015–2016 while on sabbatical from NUS. Dr Hande was an expert member of the workgroup on ‘Biological mechanisms influencing health effects from low-dose radiation exposure’ with United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (2017 − 2021). He is currently a member of Committee 1 (Radiation Effects), International Commission on Radiological Protection (July 2021 – June 2025). Dr Hande designed, developed, implemented, and facilitated this seminar-style module since 2015. He conducted the survey, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript.