The Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011 and the Korean nuclear power plant corruption scandal in 2013 provided an uneasy impression of nuclear energy’s image. The image of nuclear power is mostly pictured as a closed and dangerous one. Several civic groups even lined up to protest against constructing a nuclear power plant.
  If a nuclear power plant is not properly administrated, it could give tremendous radioactive damage to humans and nature. However, we have a lot of reasons why we should use nuclear energy even though there are risks. Therefore, we should change our image of nuclear power.
  Korea is a resource-poor country. We import about 97% of our energy from abroad in the form of raw materials. In money terms, we spend an astronomical amount of money, about 180 trillion won, for acquiring energy for Korea. Checking Korea’s structure of energy, fossil fuels are 84% of our total energy use. Then, nuclear energy takes 14%. In this figure, we should not ignore nuclear energy just because of its low proportion.
  We all know that we had a lot of hotter days in the summer of 2013. The government enforced an energy efficiency policy so that the hours of using energy could be restricted. Many people think that the cause of this policy enforcement was a shortage of electricity. However, the truth of the situation was connected to nuclear energy. One third of domestic electric power is supplied by nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants Shin-kori #2 and Shin-wolsong #1 stopped working because of repairing with low quality parts after the Korea nuclear power plant corruption scandal in 2013. In the aftermath, domestic electric power output decreased.
  Nuclear energy is essential in our lives. Also, nuclear energy will be more important if fossil fuels are lacking. Then, the ratio of nuclear energy use will increase. Therefore, what we have to do is to accommodate nuclear energy in a safe way. We should construct a high-standard safety system to minimize the harmfulness if nuclear accidents occur. Furthermore, we, who are leaders of the future, should be concerned about renewable energy and we should be prepared for the depletion of fuels.