한국 원자력 발전정책의 사회적 구성: 원자력기술의 도입 초기(1954~1965년)를 중심으로

This paper is concerned about the historical construction of nuclear policy. Correspondingly, it explores political economic background, factors influencing decision-making, policy implementation process and ideology to legitimate nuclear policy during the early stage of nuclear introduction. The time span of this study is from 1954 when nuclear knowledge and technology began to be shared internationally based on the idea of peaceful use of atomic power to 1965 when nuclear policies in Korea began to be stabilized through the establishment of the nuclear law and the nuclear agency. This study found that nuclear power had rapidly been introduced in Korea because of its possibility of military application, that is to say development of nuclear weapons, in spite of low economical efficiency. This aspect has made discussion about nuclear power isolated from the public arena, while strengthening closed specialism and public exclusion. Discussion about nuclear has been undertaken within the community of scientists and technocrats. On the one hand, there is specialist ideology which justifies that only trained nuclear specialists can make decisions because nuclear technology is very complicated and complex; on the other hand, since nuclear power was related with political and military aims, it cannot have been discussed in public.