Considering the Creation of Nuclear Safety Culture through Educational Curriculum in Thailand
Keywords:
Nuclear Curricula, Nuclear Safety Culture, Nuclear Energy, ThailandAbstract
This article aims to present nuclear knowledge management prior to the construction of nuclear power plants through a case study of Thailand. Thai governments, especially in the 2010s, have prepared policy packages, regulatory structures, and organizations to facilitate the construction of nuclear power plants. Policy debates regarding nuclear power plants are based on economic benefits, electricity prices, energy security, and concerns of nuclear accidents. To extend the nuclear policy conversation beyond the conventional topics, this article aims to investigate how the idea of nuclear safety culture, as a global concept promoted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, could be added into policy debates. Previous researches have suggested that nuclear curriculum is an important tool to educate people and (re)shape their perceptions and knowledge about nuclear power plants.
Following the useful suggestions of previous studies, this article compares nuclear curricula in both secondary and higher education levels, from Thailand and other countries, to evaluate whether the curricular developers have integrated the idea of nuclear safety culture into the curricula. The research findings indicate that the nuclear curricula from the case studies, including Thailand, have not fully integrated the concept of nuclear safety culture. The article also provides a set of alternative topics that integrate the idea of nuclear safety culture for redesigning the nuclear curriculum. The knowledge inherent to nuclear safety culture would increase people’s perceptions and understanding of the broader connections between nuclear power and other aspects of society, an ideational condition for identifying the future of nuclear power plants.
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