Published on February 7, 2020: The Denki Shimbun (The Electric Daily News)
Shojiro Matsuura
Advisor

Recently, I felt a sudden urge to take a hike in the snow, something I have not done for quite some time. Though it was somewhat of a struggle through the forests of the Shiga Kogen, I enjoyed walking over the snow in my snowshoes. Step-by-step, I made my way across the fresh snow, which was without any trace of another creature before me except for a few old rabbit tracks. As I journeyed, a profound realization reawakened in me, aptly expressed in a passage that I had recently read in a book entitled The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley, published in the United Kingdom. That section ardently expressed the recognition that “[evolution] creeps rather than jumps.” This statement struck me with such affirmation that I thought “That’s right. That’s exactly what evolution is.”

Our world is swallowed up in a torrent of innovation. It gives us the impression that some sort of tremendous transformation is coming. However, innovation must essentially take place, just as evolution does, in a step-by-step manner. Were it not so, the result of that innovation might be instantaneously catastrophic.

Nuclear research and development, its use and expansion evolved to a considerable degree during the 20th century. It has been revolutionary. Yet, in the process of adopting nuclear power for use by our society, did those of involved wholeheartedly take the time to beat a path each step of the way that would provide a firm foundation for this evolution?

Looking back, although we can surely say that we faithfully executed that process, we can also vividly recall several significant setbacks. The leakage of radiation from the nuclear ship Mutsu’s reactor, sodium leaking from the Monju prototype fast breeder reactor, JCO criticality accident, and accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are just some of the setbacks that immediately come to mind.

With the exception of the Fukushima accident, the causes were found quickly and it was not particularly difficult to address the relevant technical aspects. However, it took a long time and considerable effort to regain the understanding of society. Underlying this endeavor was a marked lack of understanding and interest in the disparity between technological evolution and social evolution. Having witnessed in our modern history how astonishing the products of technological evolution have been as well as the magnitude of social benefit gained through their use, weren’t we spellbound by a naivety that “technological evolution and social evolution would both proceed hand in hand”?

This has culminated in the buildup of a range of social predicaments that were hardly at issue when the utilization of nuclear power was introduced. A quintessential example can be seen in the perplexing gap between decisions reached in nuclear circles and the judicial branch about how to assess risks of volcano eruptions and earthquakes, issues that have come to the fore recently.

There is a profound relationship between technological evolution and the evolution of human consciousness, which is the foundation upon which society evolves, but these likely unfold independent of one another. We should maintain such a perspective as we attempt to reconcile these two processes. Nuclear experts must present the current state of nuclear science and technology as well as its future potential and limitations to society in an easy-to-understand manner together with a concrete indication of how consideration about people’s concerns has been incorporated into the implementation of future plans.

In addition, we need to more clearly elucidate just what the social concerns and emotional apprehensions are. I think that this endeavor will surprisingly show many concerns are nothing more than misunderstandings, and we should not have to discard the choice of pursuing possibilities that society may be able to enjoy the benefits of modern civilization’s fruits to an even higher degree just because those misconceptions have not been cleared up.

To this end, we need to somehow bridge the gap between the evolution of technology and our consciousness. I feel hopeful that recent accomplishments achieved in cranial neuroscience, social psychology, information science and technology, philosophy and other fields will significantly influence this task.


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