radiation Day Strategic Digital
The Earth is the greatest gift for human life. A place where humans are born, live, and become their final resting place before returning to God. The Earth is not merely a vessel for humans to live in, but also a provider of abundant natural resources that hold countless irreplaceable human needs. These abundant natural resources are utilized by humans to sustain life, starting from simple things such as using solar energy to generate electricity, water energy to drive turbines in hydroelectric power plants, to rare and non-renewable energy like fossil energy which has a limited amount such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
Nature provides all human needs to be used and managed properly. However, sometimes humans are not aware of the great impact caused by poor natural resource management, which has the potential to become a serious threat to human survival. One of the natural resources that can cause the most damage if not managed properly is nuclear.
Failure in nuclear resource management has occurred in the case of Chernobyl which happened on April 26, 1986, when reactor no. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine exploded, making it one of the worst accidents in the nuclear industry. The explosion of this reactor itself caused the release of a large amount of radioactive material that is very dangerous for humans and the environment, to the extent that the area around Chernobyl had to be isolated for years to reduce the levels of other harmful substances arising from the explosion. Indeed, radioactive substances contained in nuclear energy cannot disappear in just a few years and even require hundreds to thousands of years to eliminate contamination from harmful radioactive elements.
The impact of radioactive substances is very dangerous to humans. How could it not be? The human body could suffer severe damage if exposed to radioactive materials from a nuclear explosion. Whether in small or large amounts, radioactive substances in the human body will still be very harmful, due to radioactive particles that can cause organ failure, cancer, genetic disorders, even death in severe cases. Not only humans, the environment also suffers losses due to radioactive contamination such as damage to soil ecosystems that can disrupt the food chain and kill plants, water ecosystems, even the air ecosystem where many animals also die, and the exposed areas are labeled as dead zones due to the damage caused.
Nuclear energy can bring great benefits if managed properly. Why so? Because compared to other power plants, nuclear energy is superior in efficiency with low carbon emissions. The main energy source of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) comes from uranium/plutonium atomic fission reactions, while coal and natural gas power plants are produced from the combustion of coal and natural gas (fossil), which are very limited in amount and cannot be renewed. Then, when compared to power plants from renewable energy such as water, solar, and wind, which tend to depend on weather and natural conditions. Even though it has very high risks, the construction of NPP requires large costs but provides better long-term guarantees. What makes it guaranteed? The electricity energy produced by nuclear energy from uranium is very large, where 1 kg of uranium is equivalent to energy from millions of kg of coal with minimal pollution, making it more efficient compared to other power sources.
The minimal pollution produced in the utilization of nuclear energy does not mean it can be underestimated. The pollution referred to is pollution caused by waste. Although the carbon emissions produced by NPP are lower than those of other energy power plants, the waste produced from NPP cannot be directly disposed of into the sea. Why? Because the sea is not a natural radiation neutralizing medium and there is concern that this waste could pollute the sea if disposed of in a state where the substance levels exceed the capacity of seawater. Therefore, before waste disposal is carried out, the substances contained in the waste should be neutralized first to avoid pollution of the marine ecosystem which can kill marine life, damage the food chain, and even potentially enter the human body through fish and other seafood consumed by humans. Thus, waste management must remain a standard and rule in the use of nuclear energy as a power plant for all countries in the world.
So how to minimize the high risk that may occur in the use of nuclear energy as a power plant? With the advancement of technology, so too has the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which utilizes Big Data in Decision Making. The development of AI technology can be used as a solution in minimizing risks from the use of nuclear energy as a power plant. Big Data itself, as the name suggests, is a collection of large and complex data. Then what is the correlation with minimizing risk? The correlation is the analysis of data related to previous accident cases and failures from the use of nuclear energy that have already occurred.
In addition to the Chernobyl case, there is also the Fukushima Daiichi case in Japan caused by the failure of the reactor cooling system, then Three Mile Island in the United States caused by mechanical damage and human error that led to partial core meltdown, the Kyshtym Disaster in the Soviet Union caused by an explosion in a radioactive waste storage facility at the Mayak plant, and various other cases that can be used as data and risk patterns within the Big Data system.
From this Big Data system, patterns can later be found to analyze possible risks so that an organization can take preventive steps to minimize the occurrence of accidents or failures that have happened before. With complex and structured Big Data, the Decision Making process can be carried out based on real evidence from the analysis of previously existing data as well as real-time data to reduce the likelihood of accidents or failures.
The integration of the Big Data system and Decision Making also makes an organization more aware of possibilities that may occur in the future with a system that can perform monitoring and early detection of anomalies so that quick responses can be taken for appropriate and efficient preventive measures. This system can be used as a basis for creating and improving policies that are more relevant and adaptive over time in the management of nuclear energy as electricity.
Thus, the use of nuclear energy as a power plant is a very strategic and sustainable solution in the management of abundant natural resources. Based on the consideration of the benefits and impacts provided, NPP offers significant advantages compared to other power plants with low carbon emissions, minimal pollution, and the large amount of electricity energy produced.
The handling of the pollution itself can be done by first neutralizing the harmful substances contained in the waste before disposal, which must comply with applicable standards and regulations regarding waste disposal. In addition, to minimize risks that may occur from the use of nuclear energy as a power plant, the implementation of AI can be used for monitoring and risk analysis based on Big Data to enable proper Decision Making in risk prevention so that an organization can prepare appropriate and efficient actions based on the problems that occur. The implementation of the integration of the Big Data and Decision Making system itself can be used as the foundation in the creation and improvement of policies related to rules and standards in the management of natural resources, namely nuclear energy as a power plant.
By: INNA HENITA CAHYA NURANI
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