12 Items

A sign welcomes drivers to Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Benton County, May 9, 2017, in Richland, Wash.

AP

Analysis & Opinions - Newsweek

Disposing of Nuclear Waste is a Challenge for Humanity

| May 15, 2017

"The problem with this waste is, however, much larger than these costs, and includes the continuing risk of exposure for workers and people living near the site, not only today but far into the future. Nuclear waste is found at hundreds of sites around the world, the product of a half century of nuclear energy production. The safe disposal of this waste is a major challenge for humanity. There are thorny ethical issues that should first be addressed."

Journal Article - Progress in Nuclear Energy

By Accident or by Design? Pushing Global Governance of Nuclear Safety

| August 2017

Nuclear safety governance should move towards a more robust regime including elements of international monitoring and verification. This is needed because nuclear energy production is likely to grow and new reactors will have different global dispersal, veering towards less experienced countries. In addition, there is growing interest in international and multilateral collaboration on disposal of mounting nuclear waste.

Journal Article - Sustainability

Sustainability, Ethics and Nuclear Energy: Escaping the Dichotomy

| March 2017

In this article, the authors suggest considering sustainability as a moral framework based on social justice, which can be used to evaluate technological choices. In order to make sustainability applicable to discussions of nuclear energy production and waste management, they focus on three key ethical questions, namely: (i) what should be sustained; (ii) why should we sustain it; and (iii) for whom should we sustain it

Journal Article - Risk Analysis

Bridging the Gap between Social Acceptance and Ethical Acceptability

| 2016

New technology brings great benefits, but it can also create new and significant risks. When evaluating those risks in policymaking, there is a tendency to focus on social acceptance. By solely focusing on social acceptance, important ethical aspects of technological risk could be overlooked, particularly when evaluating technologies with transnational and intergenerational risks. The author examines the case of multinational nuclear waste repositories.

Book - Cambridge University Press

The Ethics of Nuclear Energy: Risk, Justice and Democracy in the Post-Fukushima Era

| August 2015

Despite the nuclear accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant in Japan, a growing number of countries are interested in expanding or introducing nuclear energy. However, nuclear energy production and nuclear waste disposal give rise to pressing ethical questions that society needs to face. This book takes up this challenge with essays by an international team of scholars focusing on the key issues of risk, justice and democracy. The essays consider a range of ethical issues including radiological protection, the influence of gender in the acceptability of nuclear risk, and environmental, international and intergenerational justice in the context of nuclear energy

Construction site of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, India, 14 April 2009. Atomstroyexport, Rosatom's overseas project manager, is a partner in the construction.

Petr Pavlicek/IAEA

Analysis & Opinions - The Huffington Post

The Russian Nuclear Energy Proposal: An Offer You Can't Refuse

| June 5, 2015

"Russia has developed a proposal that seems to offer a solution to these problems. Under the acronym BOO (Build, Own, Operate), Russia's state-owned Rosatom offers to finance, build and operate new nuclear reactors for the aspiring nuclear energy countries....Rosatom's proposal only contributes to a quicker global dispersal of nuclear energy, while the existing nuclear safety governance regime is not ready yet to ensure the safety of a global expansion."

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

Where Should Nuclear Waste be Dumped?

| May 26, 2015

MTA/ISP Research Fellow Behnam Taebi and former Research Fellow and Associate Kathleen Araújo explore lessons learned from early adopters of consent-based processes in nuclear waste decisions. They argue, whatever waste sites are evaluated, public consent must more fully be taken into account for there to be any chance of durable buy-in.

Engineering Quad and Marston Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, March 7, 2014.

Wikimedia CC 3.0

Analysis & Opinions - The Huffington Post

Why Rejecting Students Based on Nationality Is a Bad Idea for Universities and for the U.S.

| March 13, 2015

Limits on access to information in universities should ultimately be based on a thorough assessment of risks and benefits. When it comes to educational exchanges, the benefits generally far outweigh the risks....The Economist pointed out that the Rohani administration—which came to power on a platform of engaging in diplomacy with the West—seems to have more PhDs from American universities than the Obama administration.

UMass Amherst campus

UMass Amherst

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Don't Ban Students Based on Nationality: What Can We Learn from Europe?

| March 2, 2015

The decision of the University of Massachusetts Amherst to categorically ban Iranians was not only gross discrimination, but also a violation of academic freedom. A similar policy was adopted in the Netherlands a few years ago and later rebuked by the Dutch Supreme Court. Universities must remain open to people from all races, religions, and nationalities.

Journal Article - Journal of Risk Research

The Socio-technical Challenges of Nuclear Power Production and Waste Management in the Post-Fukushima Era: Editors' Overview

| 2015

"A mere three-and-a-half years after the catastrophic nuclear events at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan, it is still too early to draw conclusions about how Fukushima has affected global nuclear energy policy. The first signs of future policy do, however, seem to indicate that there will be no major changes in nuclear power forecasts in the immediate future."