Publication Laka-library:
The first 50 years of nuclear power: the legacy and lessons. Part 1. (1992)
| Author | Energy policy |
| Date | July 1992 |
| Classification | 6.01.0.40/73 (HISTORY / DEVELOPMENT NUCLEAR ENERGY) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
ENERGY POLICY Editor: Nicky France Vol20 No7 July 1992 The July issue of Energy Policy concentrates on nuclear power and is guest edited by Steve Thomas and Frans Berkhout. Nuclear power has, over the last year, generated a storm of opinion - it is hard to find another area that has created such strong and often highly charged emotions. In this issue we have made a deliberate attempt to steer away from the polemics and address the actual issues raised by this technology. Thomas and Berkhout have selected papers from five categories: regulation; the state and ethics; economic issues; country case studies; and key technological issues. The issue is in two parts; Part 2 will follow in August. Here we present the work of MichelDamian and James Jasper, who stand back from the technology and examine how appropriate existing institutions are to deal with the particular problems of the nuclear industry. John Surrey examines the issue of decommissioning, not from the usual technical or economic perspectives, but from an ethical point of view. James Hewlett examines the extent of, and factors behind, the dramatic and damaging increase in operating costs of nuclear power plants - a trend that destroyed the myth of 'too cheap to meter'. Gordon MacKerron examines why, counter to almost all experience with new technologies where learning and economies of scale are expected to substantially reduce costs, nuclear costs have continued to rise through time. Stefan Lindstrom examines the case of Sweden where nuclear power is likely to be phased out - due to an explicit democratic decision. Anders Martensson examines some of the nuclear reactor technologies, in particular the claims (implicit in their names) that these new technologies offer greater intrinsic safety than existing designs. David Fischer examines the prospects for a nuclear non- proliferation regime in the aftermath of the Gulf War. Ian McKinley explores the methods designed to overcome the problem of long-term disposal of high-level nuclear waste. The various oil shocks and the issue of global warming have underscored that no form of energy is without major drawbacks or penalties. Any form of energy source that is capable of making a major contribution to world supplies will almost certainly carry with it a heavy price and nuclear power may, on balance, have a more attractive list of pros and cons than alternative sources. It is the aim of this issue, and the one following, to shed light on the broader balance sheet of nuclear power in the hope that it will generate a level of debate untainted by the emotional commitment of the major protagonists.
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