LRA 1 HISTORY 105

WSU Summer

Jeremie Pope (11507168)

5/16/17
I. Selected Topic and Relevancy
A. Research Topic:
Nuclear power and its public perception as formulated by the lenses of public opinion.
Further, this perception as it transformed from how it was initially presented after
World War II.

Topics are to include the effect of the Cold War, the 1970s boom of ecocentrism, and
modern issues like the use of nuclear nonproliferation and the threat of terrorism.

B. Connection to Course Themes:

This topic touches primarily on Section 1 and Section 4+5 of this class. Specifically,
environmentalism and the development of the environmental movement around the
world directly impacted the publics perception on nuclear power. More recently, these
attitudes have been reinforced by more contemporary issues stemming from the Cold
War and even more recently the Middle East. By exploring first the historical roots of
the introduction and proliferation of nuclear power we can cover the transformation of
nuclear powers public opinion and how topics covered in this course irrevocably altered
how the worlds public views and reacts to nuclear power and radiation.

II. Contemporary Documentary Sources

Harder, Amy. "Green Groups Ease Opposition to Nuclear Power." Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2016,
p.B.1. Accessed May 16, 2017. https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-
explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_proquest1797506767&context=PC&vid=WSU&search_scope=WSU_every
thing&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US.

III. Specialized Encyclopedia Entries

Jelley, Nick. "Nuclear Power." In A Dictionary of Energy Science, 2017 ed., Nuclear Power. Vol. 1. Oxford
University Press, 2017.
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191826276.001.0001/acref-
9780191826276-e-463.

IV. Two Preliminary Research Questions

A. Question A:
How did nuclear energy go from being a symbol of human ingenuity and a brighter
future to being a harbinger of death?

B. Question B:
Why does nuclear power present such large political challenges for expansion despite
the rapid and untapped expansion in the early 70s and late 80s?