Do new Ethical Issues Arise at Each Stage of Nanotechnological Development?

The literature concerning ethical issues associated with nanotechnologies has become prolific. However, it has been claimed that ethical problems are only at stake with rather sophisticated nanotechnologies such as active nanostructures, integrated nanosystems and heterogeneous molecular nanosystems, whereas more basic nanotechnologies such as passive nanostructures mainly pose technical difficulties. In this paper I argue that fundamental ethical issues are already at stake with this more basic kind of nanotechnologies and that ethics impacts every kind of nanotechnologies, already from the simplest kind of engineered nanoproducts. These ethical issues are mainly associated with the social desirability of nanotechnologies, with the difficulties to define nanotechnologies properly, with the important uncertainties surrounding nanotechnologies, with the threat of ‘nano-divide’, and with nanotechnology as ‘dual-use technology’

Responsible, Inclusive Innovation and the Nano-divide

Policy makers from around the world are trying to emulate successful innovation systems in order to support economic growth. At the same time, innovation governance systems are being put in place to ensure a better integration of stakeholder views into the research and development process. In Europe, one of the most prominent and newly emerging governance frameworks is called Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This article aims to substantiate the following points: (1) The concept of RRI and the concept of justice can be used to derive similar ethical positions on the nano-divide. (2) Given the ambitious policy aims of RRI (e.g. economic competitiveness enhancer), the concept may be better suited to push for ethical outcomes on access to nanotechnology and its products rather than debates based on justice issues alone. It may thus serve as a mediator concept between those who push solely for competitiveness considerations and those who push solely for justice considerations in nano-technology debates. (3) The descriptive, non-normative Systems of Innovation approaches (see below) should be linked into RRI debates to provide more evidence on whether the approach advocated to achieve responsible and ethical governance of research and innovation (R&I) can indeed deliver on competitiveness (in nano-technology and other fields)

How benchmarking can support the selection, planning and delivery of nuclear decommissioning projects

Nuclear Decommissioning Projects and Programmes (NDPs) are jeopardized by several risks, long schedule and cost estimates that lay in the range of hundreds of billions of pounds. Moreover, in some countries, these estimates keep increasing and key stakeholders have a limited understanding of the determinants that engender this phenomena. Benchmarking refers to the process of comparing projects in order to identify best practices and generate ideas for improvement. However, even if it is the envisaged approach to tackle the decommissioning challenges (and due to the NDPs’ uniqueness), until now, benchmarking has been only partially used. This paper proposes an innovative methodology to benchmark decommissioning projects, both from the nuclear and non-nuclear industry, within the UK and worldwide. From this cross-sectorial and cross-country analysis, it is possible to gather a list of key NDPs’ characteristic and statistically test their correlation with the project performance. The ultimate aim of the research underpinning this paper is to investigate the possible causation between the NDPs’ characteristics and the NDPs’ performance and to develop guidelines to improve the selection, planning and delivery of future NDPs

Le citoyen face au risque chez Shrader-Frechette

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L’éthique à l’épreuve de l’inflation des normes dans la pratique clinique

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Cultural theory, risk, rationality and ethical implications

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A propos de risque et de responsabilité

Traduction de l'article "A propos de risque et de responsabilité" de Hans Lenk, publié dans :Kermisch C. and Hottois G. (eds.), Techniques et philosophies des risques, Paris, Vrin, 2007.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Comment intégrer le citoyen dans la gestion des risques technologiques?

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La perception des nanotechnologies et de leurs risques

La perception des nanotechnologies et de leurs risques constitue un phénomène complexe. Malgré l’ambigüité qui préside à la définition des nanotechnologies, il est possible de tenter d’en caractériser la perception. Ainsi, des enquêtes menées au niveau européen mettent en évidence l’absence d’opinion des citoyens vis-à-vis de celles-ci et de leurs risques. De plus, ils ne s’accordent ni sur l’existence de risques pour les générations futures ni sur la présence de risques sanitaires et environnementaux. En revanche, l’iniquité de la distribution des risques et des bénéfices leur semble manifeste. Par ailleurs, des études montrent que l’attitude des individus varie selon le champ d’application concerné. Par exemple, les développements nanotechnologiques dans le domaine médical semblent bénéficier d’une perception positive, contrairement aux applications dans les secteurs militaires ou alimentaires. En fait, plusieurs facteurs permettent de comprendre pourquoi certains individus développent une attitude négative vis-à-vis de certaines nanotechnologies et perçoivent avec acuité les risques qui y sont associés. Il s’agit de facteurs psychométriques, socioculturels, ou éthiques, mais aussi des bénéfices associés à ces technologies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe