Understanding the Societal Challenges Facing Nuclear Power Proceedings of a Workshop (2022) / Chapter Skim
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3 Lessons from the Field of Science and Technology Studies
3 Lessons from the Field of Science and Technology Studies
Pages 29-37
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From page 29... ...
The field of STS, which is the study of how societies understand themselves within a world informed by and dependent on science and technology, has evolved in close parallel with the nuclear energy field itself. Jasanoff described how scholarship in and related to STS, such as Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky's Risk and Culture and Gabrielle Hecht's The Radiance of France, engaged with the domain of nuclear power and helped shape discussions around nuclear risk (Douglas and Wildavsky 1983; Hecht 1998)
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WHAT DOES STS SAY ABOUT THE ISSUES FACING NUCLEAR POWER? Andy Stirling, University of Sussex Through its scrutiny of the dynamics of power and privilege within science, Stirling described how the field of STS has demonstrated that information about nuclear power that is presented as sound, evidencebased science and policy is in fact quite political.
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From page 31... ...
In pursuing climate targets, he urged a focus as much on empirical realities as on theoretical modeling; he argued that a currently neglected factor is how some technologies can lock in or crowd out other technologies; and he noted that valuing energy diversity does not mean "do everything" -- it is reasonable that a specific option might be excluded from a mix if is too slow, too expensive, or otherwise too problematic. Last, he stressed the need for candid appraisals of what is driving nuclear infrastructure and its components, and a recognition of what happens when nuclear technologies eventually, and inevitably, reach obsolescence.
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Is nuclear energy compatible with sustainability goals? To meaningfully advance debates around nuclear power, Joly sug gested that the nuclear field and society more broadly must work to answer these questions.
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Jasanoff agreed that coal production harms more lives than nuclear power but added that, in STS, the term "asymmetry" refers to the observation that people have cer tainty about their own beliefs but attribute uncertainty to those of others. The public is good at recognizing such asymmetries, and it is compli cated to compare recorded deaths from coal-based energy production to potential deaths from nuclear production.
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From page 34... ...
The many nuances in energy production make it difficult to come to straightforward conclusions about who is being harmed, and by how much, he said. The Knowledge Deficit Model Macfarlane asked speakers to comment on the knowledge deficit model, which posits that people are skeptical about technology because they do not understand it, something that can be overcome with more information.
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Therefore, looking for one definitive reconciliation among multiple energy choices is neither possible nor meaningful. The Role of Nuclear Power in the Broader Energy Transition Macfarlane asked panelists to comment on the role of nuclear power in the current energy transition.
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From page 36... ...
Joly added that comparing commercial and military applications of nuclear technology is complicated and has a high degree of uncertainty, making it difficult to develop valid economic models of nuclear energy costs. Stirling noted that, depending on underlying views, the industrial interdependence between military and civilian nuclear applications might be invoked variously to criticize or make a case for nuclear technology.
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From page 37... ...
1998. The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity After World War II.
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