Responsible action and nuclear waste disposal

Abstract

This paper investigates the Canadian debate over nuclear waste management, showing how proponents of deep geological disposal have reframed the debate and reconfigured the moral context. From initial efforts, in which technical and political options were presented through the lens of whether institutional actors could be trusted, repository proponents now emphasize how the political and value situation itself offers opportunities to affect decisions. Canada's recently announced adaptive phased management approach to the nuclear waste problem purports to relax elite control and empower public influence, and this shift signals an important change in how social responsibility regarding nuclear projects is being demonstrated. Though focusing on the Canadian debate, this paper broaches broader questions of how relations of trust are built out of situations in which trust does not exist.