What is its goal?

What's next?

     What we should know next to understand the CNIC is their goal. Of course because they are anti-nuclear group they want nuclear to be abolished. On the other hand, now our lives are highly dependent on electricity and nuclear  technologies have huge potential to supply electricity with less carbon dioxide. And this is one of common idea of proponent of nuclear power. They are assuming nuclear power as kind green energy.

    (phogograph#1; source of photograph: http://thevividedge.com/sources-of-green-energy/)

     First, I recite their goal from their homepage.

"Citizens' Nuclear Information Center is an anti-nuclear public interest organization dedicated to securing a safe, nuclear-free world." (CNIC website:2012)

      

  Their aim is realizing a safe, nuclear-free world. Their primary goal is safe world, and to realize safe world, they advocate abolishment nuclear; mainly nuclear power plant. 

Then Why do they think so?

     Second, I picked up reasons they explain why abolishment of nuclear are:

1. Risk of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. And to protect nuclear plant from them, social liberty and presentation of necessary information might be limited
2. Possibility of nuclear disaster
3. Environmental effects
4. Worker's radiation exposure
5. Waste of nuclear-fuel
6. Unfairness between who get merit from nuclear power plant and people who don't
7. Not enough uranium
8. Fragile society results from reliant too much on electricity
9. Retrogression to energy consuming society
10. Nuclear plant can't adjust amount of electricity so we will need more plant to adjust to the demand 
11. More plants as spare
12. Problems resulted from remote location of nuclear plant 
13. Limited source of electricity
14. Hinder people from environmental decision-making
15. Municipality's dependence 
16. Uncountable case of fabrication
17. Actually not cheap energy source, and building nuclear power without much money might lead to other safety problems.

     They listed many reasons. Those ideas contain various aspects which shows that CNIC has various kinds of people who have different background. For example, No.12, on the one hand they arguing technical problem caused by remote location of nuclear plant. It's little bit scientific knowledge, when the electricity flows, it make electric field around it and strength of electric field is depends on how much the electricity flows. If nuclear plant is built in remote place, we need to use  strong electric flow to send far away; the urban area which needs lots of energy, that is, there will be strong electricity along cable. Too strong electric field is not good to living thing. On the other hand they also argue that nuclear power hinder people environmental acting because it provide lots of electricity so that people don't have to worry about lack of electricity. That is moral problem that may accelerate environmental problem. Another example of moral problem is waste problem. They points out that it's virtually impossible to dispose nuclear waste because even if we bury nuclear waste in far deep ground, it takes long time to the waste to be safe to us. If we bury it, it won't be safe at least until your grandchildren dies. Furthermore, in Japan because it's on the circum-Pacific volcanic belt that is the ground of Japan is active. So it's relatively easy that waste come to the surface or near enough to be harmful to people. And it might not be our generation to be influenced because of the waste our generation dispose.


    According to Valentine and Sovacool, one of the reason Japanese nuclear technology development is financial support and centralized coordination of Japanese government. So aiming citizen's intervention in nuclear policy decision making will modify development of nuclear technology and use of nuclear technology without enough consideration to environment and human.  


    According to Price, there are four main types of social action; intellectual, moral reaction, instrumental activism, and expressive. Intellectual social actionist places an emphasis on their knowledge of nuclear technology. Other groups have moral reaction to the nuclear problems. They try to define and explore the ethical dilemma. Instrumental activism is action aiming to realise ideal values in our culture concerning self-reliance, appreciation of the natural environment, and efficient utilization of resources. Groups like Direct-action groups are categorized in expressive social action. They are always aiming realizing more general political or social objectives through anti-nuclear movement.[Price:1990] Since CNIC has some scientists, I can categorize it in Intellectual category. At the same time, CNIC tries to protect people from nuclear disaster and environmental crisis caused by nuclear power. It means CNIC is also instrumental activism. 

   
     In general, they are warming that possibility that nuclear power leads to making and using nuclear weapon, danger of nuclear accident, exposure to radioactivity in daily life, undone nuclear waste for the future generation, and building electricity dependent society. Their main concerns are nuclear weapons, influence of radiation to natural environment and human, and building fragile society. So they are not expressive social group


     As conclusion, their goals are securing a safe, nuclear free world. To reach this goal, they are claiming that  abolishment of nuclear weapons, danger of radiation from nuclear plant,  problem of nuclear waste, the problem of building the fragile society based completely on the electricity. They are categorized intellectual and instrumental activism.


References

CNIC. 2012
"なぜ反原発か". http://www.cnic.jp/modules/about/article.php?id=15. consulted 17th March 2012

Jerome Price. 1990 THE ANTINUCLEAR MOVEMENT.Rev.edition. Boston:Twayne Publishers

Scott, Valentine. and Benjamin Sovacool. 2010 writing as The socio-political economy of nuclear power development in Japan and south Korea. Energy Policy(38):7971-7979.

Vidican Sergiu. "Source Of Green Energy" http://thevividedge.com/sources-of-green-energy/. consulted 17th March 2012