Sustainability, Ethics and Nuclear Energy: Escaping the Dichotomy

Kermisch, C.F.N.; Taebi, B.

doi:10.3390/su9030446

Sustainability, Ethics and Nuclear Energy

Title

Sustainability, Ethics and Nuclear Energy: Escaping the Dichotomy

Author

Kermisch, C.F.N. (Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB))
Taebi, B. (TU Delft Ethics & Philosophy of Technology; Harvard University)

Date

2017

Abstract

In this paper we 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, we 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. This leads us to conceptualize the notion of sustainability as a set of values, including safety, security, environmental benevolence, resource durability, and economic viability of the technology. The practical usefulness of sustainability as a moral framework is highlighted by demonstrating how it is applicable for understanding intergenerational dilemmas—between present and future generations, but also among different future generations—related to nuclear fuel cycles and radioactive waste management.

Subject

equity
fuel cycle
future generations
radioactive waste
safety
security
sustainability
OA-Fund TU Delft

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:70ee61c4-5418-4c2e-b367-f7e7e9fb1b59

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/su9030446

ISSN

2071-1050

Source

Sustainability, 9 (3)

Part of collection

Institutional Repository