Should We Deploy Nuclear Energy?

Abstract

Abstract This chapter argues that the lens of intergenerational ethics could help flesh out the moral implications of nuclear energy production and waste management. Instead of using ethics as a yardstick to pass a dichotomous judgment on nuclear energy, a better understanding of the technological subtleties of different existing and future nuclear technologies is needed; different technological pathways could influence the interests of different future generations in different ways. A more detailed look at these technologies and at future generations could improve the appreciation of the subtle intergenerational dilemmas of nuclear technology and contribute to technologically and ethically informed policymaking about the future of nuclear energy. This will provide a solid step toward comparing a specific type of nuclear energy (and its associated short-term and long-term risks and benefits) with other energy technologies.