In class last week we had a discussion that stuck with me. Objects and technology in our day to day lives that feel like science fiction are more common than we think. The example that we used in class was the iPhone, and just how reliant we are on a technology where most people don’t understand how it is made and the real engineering behind it. The iPhone we discovered, is an object that we know nothing about, but yet dictates how we operate on a day to day basis.

Much like the iPhone mysterious and unbelievable tech, nuclear energy is theme that has been used in science fiction since the late 19th century. Take the image below for example. This is a gif of a real nuclear reactor’s fuel cell, or the actual radioactive power source. At first glance, and with this being a science fiction blog, this photo looks animated and imaginative. It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Nuclear energy has been such a popular theme in sci-fi because of its mysterious power and incredible societal implications, as a weapon and as a source of power.

https://medium.com/generation-atomic/7-awesome-sci-fi-nuclear-reactors-6bea7419f683

The first mention of nuclear energy in sci-fi is credited to Cromie’s The Crack of Doom (1895), whose plot deals with a nuclear device that is designed to end the world. Set in the future in the early 2000’s, this story has eerie predictions about the future. For example, the story ends by the protagonist saving the world with the only casualty being an evaporated a South Pacific Island. This SF story was the start of a prolific theme in sci-fi, with stories of dystopias, apocalypses, and utopias all thanks to nuclear energy.

While there are hundreds of well-respected stories dealing with nuclear energy since Cromie’s novel, it was after WW2 that theme took off in SF literature. This for obvious reasons is understandable. Last year I took a history class called, The Nuclear Age, and we watched Ishiro Honda’s “Gojira”, later adapted to US audiences under the name “Godzilla”. This movie was aptly timed with a botched US hydrogen bomb test on Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific (hence a connection with The Crack of Doom). This movie, produced by a Japanese director, was extremely popular and widely distributed, providing imagery that was highly critical of nuclear testing, weapons in general, and even the use of nuclear energy in any capacity.

                                                      Gojira (1954) – Movie Poster of the creature (Gojira) created by leaked nuclear energy from a US* nuclear test.

SF authors have dealt with nuclear energy in its current technological format including weapons and the creation of fission power. Interestingly, most of these stories are dystopic or apocalyptic in some fashion. Some authors however, see nuclear power as a solution to the world’s impending energy problem. Nuclear fusion promises an even more efficient source of power with almost infinite applications on earth. While the uses can only be imagined in the mind of sci-fi authors and consumers, the science and engineering to bring fusion to earth is actively being done. Check out this headline from an article in the British newspaper, “The Telegraph.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/07/26/sci-fi-fantasy-source-boundless-clean-energy-inside-britains/