The role of nuclear energy in the global context of the 21st century

"April 20, 1994.""Text of the David J. Rose Lecture in Nuclear Technology."Includes bibliographical references (pages 23-25

Nuclear energy in the public sphere: Anti-nuclear movements vs. industrial lobbies in Spain (1962-1979)

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11024-014-9263-0This article examines the role of the Spanish Atomic Forum as the representative of the nuclear sector in the public arena during the golden years of the nuclear power industry from the 1960s to 1970s. It focuses on the public image concerns of the Spanish nuclear lobby and the subsequent information campaigns launched during the late 1970s to counteract demonstrations by the growing and heterogeneous anti-nuclear movement. The role of advocacy of nuclear energy by the Atomic Forum was similar to that in other countries, but the situation in Spain had some distinguishing features. Anti-nuclear protest in Spain peaked in 1978 paralleling the debates of a new National Energy Plan in Congress, whose first draft had envisaged a massive nuclearization of the country. We show how the approval of the Plan in July 1979, with a significant reduction in the nuclear energy component, was influenced by the anti-nuclear protest movements in Spain. Despite the efforts of the Spanish Atomic Forum to counter its message, the anti-nuclear movement was strengthened by reactions to the Three Mile Island accident in March 1979

Considerations on the large-scale deployment of the nuclear-fuel cycle

In papers by Häfele, Manne and Schikorr, strategies for a transition from fossil to nuclear fuels are considered for a model society of 250 M people with an asymptotic energy consumption of 10 kW thermal per capita. In the final state, a purely nuclear energy production system, based on only two reactor types, was assumed to cover all electric and non-electrical energy demands of the model society. It is the purpose of this paper to evaluate the whole nuclear fuel cycle belonging to the asymptotic nuclear energy-production system. In order to achieve this, all normal operational and accidental risks connected with the nuclear material throughputs are analyzed. Thus, an idea of the relative importance of the different hazards is obtained; furthermore, the basis for a comparison of the nuclear option with alternative options (which is the subject of forthcoming work) is given. With this purpose in mind, only orders of magnitude are considered throughout the paper; in addition, the argumentation is restricted to the level of expected values. Following the introduction, the mass flows of nuclear material through the nuclear fuel cycle are analyzed. The methodology used is then developed. The normal operation releases of radioactivity are considered and possible modes of accidental radioactive releases are analyzed; the problem of a final waste storage is treated separately because of its unique nature. Different kinds of sabotage and blackmail, including the construction of a nuclear explosive device, are next analyzed; finally, all calculations are summarized. In conclusion, a number of decision-oriented assessments are identified that must be made when the large-scale deployment of nuclear energy is considered

Risiko, Unsicherheit und Undeutlichkeit

Die zunehmende Bereitschaft der Gesellschaft, Verantwortung für zukünftige Lebensbedingungen zu tragen, hat die Risikoforschung erheblich vorangetrieben: Zum einen wächst der objektive Bedarf an Antizipationsforschung,zumal die Tragweite menschlichen HandeIns längst globale Auswirkungen bis hin zur potentiellen Selbstzerstörung umfaßt; zum anderen bedingt die Ausweitung der Verantwortlichkeit für künftige Ereignisse und ihre Folgen eine Erweiterung der Legitimationsbasis für kollektive Entscheidungen durch wissenschaftliche Rationalisierung. Gerade der Legitimierungsbedarf der Politik an wissenschaftlichen Gutachten zu absehbaren Nebenfolgen hat maßgeblich zur Politisierung der Wissenschaft beigetragen und eine kritische Reflexion über Rolle und Funktion der Wissenschaft bei der Erfassung und Beurteilung von Risiken in Gang gesetzt. In den folgenden Abschnitten soll diese Diskussion aufgegriffen werden: Die Grundlagen der bisherigen Risikoforschung werden kritisch erörtert, um daraus Ansätze zu einer umfassenderen, systematischen Beurteilung der Risikoproblematik abzuleiten