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Waiting for the Nuclear Renaissance: Exploring the Nexus of Expansion and Disposal in Europe
Author(s) -
Darst Robert,
Dawson Jane I.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
risk, hazards and crisis in public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.634
H-Index - 8
ISSN - 1944-4079
DOI - 10.2202/1944-4079.1047
Subject(s) - nuclear power , the renaissance , nexus (standard) , climate change , radioactive waste , independence (probability theory) , nuclear industry , energy independence , work (physics) , energy security , political science , political economy , sociology , history , engineering , nuclear engineering , mechanical engineering , ecology , statistics , mathematics , electrical engineering , biology , renewable energy , embedded system , art history , waste management
This article focuses on the growing prospects for a nuclear power renaissance in Europe. While accepting the conventional wisdom that the incipient renaissance is being driven by climate change and energy security concerns, we argue that it would not be possible without the pioneering work of Sweden and Finland in providing a technological and sociopolitical solution to the industry's longstanding “Achilles' heel”: the safe, permanent, and locally acceptable disposal of high‐level radioactive waste. In this article, we track the long decline and sudden resurgence of nuclear power in Europe, examining the correlation between the fortunes of the industry and the emergence of the Swedish model for addressing the nuclear waste problem. Through an in‐depth exploration of the evolution of the siting model initiated in Sweden and adopted and successfully implemented in Finland, we emphasize the importance of transparency, trust, volunteerism, and “nuclear oases”: locations already host to substantial nuclear facilities. Climate change and concerns about energy independence and security have all opened the door for a revival of nuclear power in Europe and elsewhere, but we argue that without the solution to the nuclear waste quandary pioneered by Sweden and Finland, the industry would still be waiting for the nuclear renaissance.