Store Nuclear Waste Research Articles

Controversy and consensus in the design of a consent-based siting process for radioactive waste

Crafting a successful plan to store nuclear waste in the United States from commercial nuclear reactors and defense-related activities has been stymied by multiple technical, social, and political challenges. Recent focus has returned to the role of consent to site a deep geologic repository and interim storage facilities. However, what “consent” means has been left quite vague. We report on an empirical investigation using Q method to identify perspectives about how a consent-based siting process should be designed for one or more deep geologic repositories. We recruited twelve individuals deeply engaged with policy and regulatory questions associated with managing nuclear waste in the United States. Results reveal four perspectives: get to yes expediently, seek acceptance by gaining trust, promote inclusion and transparency for informed community choice, and develop legitimacy for the process and outcomes. Each perspective includes features meant to ensure that core concepts of consent are addressed in a process to site one or more deep geologic repositories: self-determination, understanding, and voluntariness. We discuss how perspectives emphasize them in different ways. We also highlight how perspectives reveal preferences for responding to three challenges raised by the socio-political context: what is the scope of the problem to be addressed, how the process can be protected from external pressure, and how to proceed in a context of social distrust. The perspectives suggest many areas of agreement about how a consent-based process should be designed. However, key differences are also revealed which pose a significant challenge for those that will be responsible for designing a process that achieves the promise of consent.

Reaction of Japanese media to discharging Fukushima nuclear waste water into ocean and the analysis----taking relevant reports of Japanese media as examples

Japanese government published the decision that the stored nuclear waste water in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant would be discharged into ocean, which met with violent objection from surrounding countries. Japanese domestic media reported in succession, and expressed a strong disagreement. And Fukushima local media were full of worries. They believed that local life and fishery production would be influenced for long. Being made a general observation of Japanese media, million tons of treated nuclear waste water discharged into ocean would be quite harmful to the environment. Japanese domestic attitude presented a distinct objection to the decision about discharging nuclear waste water into ocean made by Japanese government.

Swelling ability and behaviour of bentonite-based materials for deep repository engineered barrier systems: Influence of physical, chemical and thermal factors

Compacted bentonite–sand (B/S) mixtures have been used as a barrier material in engineered barrier systems (EBSs) of deep geological repositories (DGR) to store nuclear wastes. This study investigates the individual and combined effects of different chemical compositions of deep groundwaters (chemical factor) at potential repository sites in Canada (the Trenton and Guelph regions in Ontario), heat generated in DGRs (thermal factor), dry densities and mass ratios of bentonite and sand mixtures (physical factors) on the swelling behavior and ability of bentonite-based materials. In this study, swelling tests are conducted on B/S mixtures with different B/S mix ratios (20/80 to 70/30), compacted at different dry densities ( ρ d = 1.6–2 g/cm 3 ), saturated with different types of water (distilled water and simulated deep groundwater of Trenton and Guelph) and exposed to different temperatures (20 °C–80 °C). Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) analyses are carried out to evaluate the morphological, microstructural and mineralogical characteristics of the B/S mixtures. The test results indicate that the swelling potential of the B/S mixtures is significantly affected by these physical and chemical factors as well as the combined effects of the chemical and thermal factors. A significant decrease in the swelling capacity is observed when the B/S materials are exposed to the aforementioned groundwaters. A large decrease in the swelling capacity is observed for higher bentonite content in the mixtures. Moreover, higher temperatures intensify the chemically-induced reduction of the swelling capacity of the B/S barrier materials. This decrease in the swelling capacity is caused by the chemical and/or microstructural changes of the materials. The results from this research will help engineers to design and build EBSs for DGRs with similar groundwater and thermal conditions.

Toward Gamma Ray Immune Fibre-Optic Phosphor Thermometry for Nuclear Decommissioning

Temperature measurement of stored nuclear waste is important for long-term monitoring. Conventional sensors can degrade in ionizing radiation from induced transmutations and their frequent replacement is inconvenient. A thermometer based on suitable phosphors can overcome some problems, but the optical signal needs to be transmitted through an optical fibre and processed remotely away from the dangerous area. This requires that the optical fibre itself be suitably resistant to radiation-induced damage. Here, we report transmission measurements through a type of hollow-core fibre based on anti-resonance and with transmission windows at wavelengths suitable for use with the thermographic phosphor magnesium fluorogermanate whilst subjected to gamma radiation. Its performance is compared to commercially available standard fibres (single mode and radiation hard fibres) at dose rates equivalent to decades of use in a storage facility. Transmission was unchanged for the anti-resonant fibre at the phosphor emission wavelength and it was successfully incorporated into a fibre thermometer that worked from {20},^{circ }hbox {C} to 200,^{circ }hbox {C}. Performance at the phosphor excitation wavelength needs to be improved by modification to the hollow-core fibre design, but we show that a hybrid of single mode and anti-resonant fibres can already be made into a thermometer with suitable gamma immunity.

Graph model under grey and unknown preferences for resolving conflicts on discharging Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the ocean

Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, on April 13, 2021, the Japanese government announced the discharge of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean starting from the late 2022 or early 2023. The implementation of this decision would harm the local and global marine ecology because of the radioactive substances in the nuclear wastewater, which has also triggered strong opposition from the Japanese people and neighboring countries. The discharge of nuclear wastewater is a complicated process. In the context of the COVID-19, options of decision makers (DMs) must take into consideration existing global uncertainty, potentially leading to a slew of uncertain outcomes. A novel grey and unknown preference framework of the graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) was proposed in this study to resolve the conflict of discharging nuclear wastewater in the ocean. Four forms of unknown preferences were defined for different grey stability definitions fully considering consider the possibility of choosing unknown results by DMs and increasing the diversity of equilibrium results. The equilibrium results the other alternative methods to discharge or continue to store nuclear waste are more conducive to the development of various DMs, and the consultation and cooperation of all DMs would ensure effective conflict resolution.

Phosphor thermometry for nuclear decommissioning and waste storage

Reliable surface thermometry of stored nuclear waste containers is essential for both health monitoring and corrosion modelling. In this paper we investigate the feasibility of using phosphor thermometry for long-term temperature monitoring of nuclear waste containers and storage racks. Two strands of research were conducted. Firstly, two thermographic phosphors (ruby and manganese-doped magnesium fluorogermanate [MFG]), mixed with six different binders were coated onto stainless steel (316L) substrates and exposed for one month to gamma radiation (γ-ray) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. Secondly, a hybrid fibre-optic phosphor thermometer, capable of measuring these samples, was constructed and tested. The instrument can measure temperatures using both the luminescence decay time and intensity ratio techniques. Following γ-ray and NaOH exposure, no significant degradation in phosphor appearance or performance was observed. The MFG/silicone binder combination gave the best results. The hybrid phosphor thermometer demonstrated for MFG/silicone binder that:•the intensity ratio technique gave the lowest measurement standard deviation (σ(T) < 0.1 °C) but suffered minor drift with thermal cycling.•the decay time technique (650 nm emission) did not show any drift and was capable of a measurement standard deviation of σ(T) ≤ 0.3 °C.

Nuclear waste–storage materials have corrosion potential

Many countries, including the US, plan to store nuclear waste in underground repositories. But scientists might not have a complete picture of the safety of the storage materials involved in these plans, according to a new study. A new report demonstrates that interactions between the different materials used for these storage systems could accelerate their corrosion when they are exposed to water, increasing the chance of the radioactive waste leaking into the environment (Nat. Mater. 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41563-019-0579-x). For permanent storage, several countries plan to turn nuclear waste into glass or ceramic and encase the solids in stainless steel canisters to store in repositories. Each of these materials separately resist corrosion in tests that simulate the cold, wet conditions that could exist in repositories, says Xiaolei Guo, a materials scientist and corrosion researcher at Ohio State University. But current nuclear waste–storage assessment models do not consider the chemical interactions between

Indigenous Knowledge and Contested Spirituality in Canadian Nuclear Waste Management

Indigenous spirituality is often deployed in grassroots environmental movements as a strategy to revitalize cultures and contest a hegemonic worldview that continues to marginalize Indigenous Peoples. From this perspective, Indigenous spirituality serves as an epistemological foil that these social movements utilize to critique prevailing capitalist values, environmental degradation, and neo-colonialism. Indigenous spiritual knowledge is also being employed by government and industry as a strategy to enhance the prolle of their own political and commercial agendas. Indigenous spirituality has therefore come to signify a wide variety of meanings and concerns in environmental management and public discourse. This can be illustrated by considering how Indigenous spirituality has become a site of contestation between the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the public body responsible for managing Canada’s used nuclear fuel, and the Committee for Future Generations (CFFG), a grass roots anti-nuclear organization, regarding the proposal to store nuclear waste in Northern Saskatchewan.

Measurement and Modeling of Nuclear Waste in the Double Shell Tanks at Hanford Nuclear Waste Site Using Miniature Sensors

Abstract Double Shell Tanks (DST's) at the Hanford Site in Washington store nuclear waste and require an understanding of tank integrity. Depending on the chemical composition and pH of the waste, certain temperature requirements are specified. However, the DST's are complex tanks and the methods used to find the temperature data, chemical composition, and other parameters provide results that are often uncertain. Temperature measurements are usually recorded more than 10 feet away from the walls primarily because of technical constraints. Results are fed into basic simulation models to get an estimation of the wall conditions. Hence, there exists a need to accurately measure and model the wall and inside temperatures. To resolve the issue, the authors attempt the use of a miniature pyrometer (Infrared (IR) temperature sensor) to be deployed into the annulus of the DST's. The IR sensor can be mounted on an annulus inspection camera or an ultrasonic testing crawler for temperature measurement of the outer wall for the DSTs. Further, advanced heat transfer based thermal models are developed using the software Solid works 2013 (simulation application) for accurate prediction of the nuclear waste temperatures in the tanks. Successful implementation of the pilot scale testing would result in the deployment of the technology for testing the nuclear waste storage tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington.

Indigenous empowerment through collective learning

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to draw attention to an indigenous community that lives in the periphery of Taiwan. The Dao on Orchid Island have had to face serious abuse of their human rights in terms of ecological exploitation and environmental injustice. The article highlights the empowerment of the indigenous group through collective learning. In this process the importance of being represented at both local and international levels is emphasized. Despite the democratization and implemented mechanism to protect indigenous peoples' rights and dignity, the issue of self‐determination and dependency on financial compensation still remains unsolved.Design/methodology/approachData are collected and elaborated primarily using recognized research methods that are common in social anthropology (Bernard). Field research was conducted in 2007, 2008, and 2011 in Taiwan. A variety of interviews and formal and informal conversations formed the basis of data collection. According to qualitative content analysis, concepts and procedures developed by Gläser and Laudel, Bernard, as well as Schmidt were applied.FindingsThe outcomes of the research highlight the need to investigate the dynamic between modern technologies and the fight of vulnerable minorities in multicultural and democratic countries. Collective learning, solidarity, and presence at national and international levels are essential to improve empowerment to gain justice and respect of human rights.Research limitations/implicationsThe indigenous Dao were excluded from decision making processes regarding the government's appropriation of land on Orchid Island to be used to store nuclear waste. The Dao gained power due to educational technologies within a local and global network. Although Taiwan promotes its cultural diversity nowadays, social and environmental justice is still a goal to reach.Originality/valueThe paper provides valuable insights of an indigenous community in Taiwan and their struggles against environmental injustice and exploitation. Due to the fieldwork, a unique and authentic picture of the indigenous peoples' situation is offered.

Animist Intersubjectivity as Argumentation: Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute Arguments Against a Nuclear Waste Site at Yucca Mountain

My focus in this essay is Shoshone and Paiute arguments against the Yucca Mountain site that claim that because Yucca Mountain is a culturally significant sacred place it should not be used to store nuclear waste. Within this set of arguments for the cultural value of Yucca Mountain, I focus on arguments that claim that the proposed nuclear waste site will damage Yucca Mountain and its ecosystem—the mountain, plants, and animals themselves. These arguments assume that Yucca Mountain and its ecosystem are animate and will suffer. An understanding of Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute perspectives on the human relationship to nature, particularly adherence to the concept of animist intersubjectivity, is crucial towards interpreting these arguments. As such, my purpose in this essay is an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the cultural presumption of animist intersubjectivity and Shoshone and Paiute arguments against the Yucca Mountain site. In order to explore this relationship, I begin the paper by discussing concept of animist intersubjectivity as a cultural presumption and its relationship to arguments. Then, I analyze Shoshone and Paiute arguments against the Yucca Mountain site to reveal how animist intersubjectivity influences these arguments. I conclude the essay by explaining the implications of this analysis.

Around the World

In science news around the world this week, Russia's first solar system exploration mission since 1996 remains stranded in Earth orbit, Geron is stopping its work on human embryonic stem cells, Germany is looking for a new site to store nuclear waste, members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences are resigning in protest of what they see as government intrusion on the autonomy of the organization, and the first 2012 budget bill contains surprisingly good news for the U.S. scientific community

Chloritization in Proterozoic granite from the Äspö Laboratory, southeastern Sweden: record of hydrothermal alterations and implications for nuclear waste storage

AbstractHydrothermal alteration of Proterozoic granitic rocks in the Äspö underground laboratory, southestern Sweden, resulted in the formation of chlorite with large variations in textural and chemical characteristics, which reflect differences in formation temperatures, fluid composition, and reaction mechanisms. The mineral assemblage associated with chlorite, including Ca-Al silicates (prehnite, pumpellyite, epidote, and titanite), Fe-oxides, calcite, albite and K-feldspar, suggests that chloritization occurred at temperatures of between 200–350°C during various hydrothermal events primarily linked to magmatism and rock deformation. Petrographic and electron microprobe analyses revealed that chlorite replaced biotite, amphibole and magnetite, and hydrothermal chlorite phases filled fractures and vugs in the granitic rocks. While fracture-filling chlorite reduces fracture permeability, chloritization reactions in the host granite resulted in the formation of new localized microporosity that should thus be taken into consideration when evaluating the safety of the granitic basement rocks as a repository for nuclear waste. It is also important to take into account that similar alteration reactions may occur at the site of stored nuclear waste where temperatures in excess of 100°C might be encountered.

An energy supply unit for an autonomous remote sensor system monitoring stored nuclear waste

This paper proposes a system for monitoring nuclear waste stored in sealed underground repositories after a period of several decades. The focus of the work is on the selection and prototyping of a critical part of the system, the energy source. In order to select the energy source from a number of possible options, a trade-off study is implemented using a weighted decision matrix. From this trade-off study a system based on a magnetic spring to store energy is chosen, primarily due to its low number of parts and does not suffer from self-degrading effects. When required, some of this stored energy is converted to the electrical domain and supplied to a wireless sensor node in a conditioned form. A prototype of the concept is presented and the supply of energy to a wireless sensor node is demonstrated.

Transport properties of the Callovo‐Oxfordian clay rock under partially saturated conditions

A series of experiments were performed to characterize the permeability, the specific storage, the capillary pressure, the streaming potential coupling coefficient, and the electrical conductivity of a very low permeability Callovo‐Oxfordian clay rock at different water saturations. The Callovo‐Oxfordian formation is presently investigated as a potential host to store nuclear wastes because of its very low permeability (typically 10 nd at saturation) and high specific surface area. We first present the constitutive transport equations including an electrokinetic cross‐coupling term in the generalized Darcy and Ohm constitutive equations. Then we present new experimental results using measurements of transient weight losses of samples submitted to a change in the relative humidity imposed by an automated humidity system in a hermetic chamber. These experiments are interpreted with a 1‐D analytical model of the coupled hydromechanical and transport equations. The hydromechanical transport properties (relative permeability and specific storage) of this clay rock are investigated in the relative saturation range from 0.23 to 0.70. We demonstrate that below 30% in relative humidity, the flux of the vapor phase with respect to the flux of the liquid water phase cannot be neglected. The relative apparent permeability can be described by a simple power law relationship with the saturation. In addition, we measure the electrical conductivity and the streaming potential coupling coefficient at various saturations. The electrical conductivity is described by a model accounting for electrical double‐layer contributions to surface conductivity. The measurement of the streaming potential coupling coefficient agrees with a power law model for the coupling coefficient versus the relative water saturation. A relationship between the exponent used to characterize the relative permeability and the second Archie's exponent used to describe the dependence of the electrical conductivity of the material with respect to the saturation is discussed.

Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation's High-Level Nuclear Waste (Macfarlane, A. and Ewing, R.C.; 2006) [Book Review

This book examines the plans by the US Department of Energy to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert.

What Now for Nuclear Waste?

The article discusses the disposal of nuclear waste in the U.S. The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama canceled the plan to store nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is where the federal government had been trying for years to build a waste repository. Topics include the suggestion by the director of the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center at New Mexico University, James L. Conca, to use salt deposits beneath the New Mexican Chihuanhuan desert to store nuclear waste. The debate over storing waste inside salt deposits, why the cancellation may not be a bad thing, and an in-depth examination of the components of nuclear waste are also discussed. An overview of the politics that led to the creation of Yucca Mountain is presented. INSETS: THE COMPONENTS OF NUCLEAR WASTE;END OF AN ERA;Where Will We Put It All?;WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH THE WASTE?

Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Manifest Destiny by Robert J. Miller

drove tribes towar, for example, war must also have diverted tribal attention from resource procurement, thereby reducing pressure on bison. He argues for"ecology two," writing on "ecological politics," but fails tomention that the 1877Black Hills Agreement ended Lakota off-reservationhunts and opened thenorthern killing fields towhites. JohnDorst opens Part 3, "Representations of Indians andAnimals," by comparing Krech's work to theDraper Museum bison exhibit. Both avoid critical inquiry concerning tribal bison relations. Sebastian F. Baum reviews recent literature on twenty-first-century bison commons despite contemporary tribal bison projects' focus on environmental politics, which are counter tomany tribalgoals. InPart 4, "Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)," Michael Harkin explores Northwest Coast salmon fishing.He concludes thattribal relations to fish included ecologies one and two,but not threebecause of feastand famine patterns based on fish availability. Examining Tlingit salmon fishing, Stephen J.Langdon discovered that only ecology one is present, since there isno tribal conservation ethic.The Tlingit's consideration of salmon tobe other than-human persons who require reciprocity and giftsreveals the extentof tribal-fishsocial relationships. "Contemporary Resource Management Issues" concludes thebook. LarryNesper and JamesH. Schlender describe theGreat Lakes Indian Fish andWildlife Commission as a scientificand legal entity,therebydebunking stereotypes of tribesmen living in harmony with the landor destroying the land's resources. David Rich Lewis evaluates sovereignty's role in the SkullValley Goshutes' decision to store nuclear waste, pointing to difficultchoices all societiesmake in regard to landscapes. Krech concludes the anthology by level inghard criticism at Feit for selectivelyusing sources,but he supports Flores's argument that tribesmen contributed to the bison's demise, although Flores fails to explain how theydid so. Having not evaluated Flores's research, Krech isguiltyof the same errorhe attributes to Feit; Krech relied on Flores's work to draft his bison chapter. Neither Krech nor Flores answers the question of whether tribesmen over-killed or over-harvested. The differences between these two environmental behaviors are vast. Darren J.Raneo, Robert L. Kelly, Mary M. Prasciunas, Ernest S. Burch, Jr., John Dorst, Sebastian F. Braun, Stephen J. Lang don, and Harkin make strong critiques of The Ecological Indian, providing thoughtful essays that take readers beyond Krech by explaining the relationships between tribal people, their cultures, and their landscapes. To do so, they refuse tomake western conservation, ecology, environmentalism, and over kill their straw men; instead, they evaluate tribal landscape relationships from within. LarryNesper, James H. Schlender, and Lewis examine similarities between cultures and their environmental relationships. Contemporary Chippewa have tribalwildlife and fisheriesplans and theGos hute, like every culture,make daily conscious and rational decisions to use or change their environment.All ofus have social transactions with our landscape, and that truthforcesus to find a common formatforcreating meaningful discussions of relations between tribalpeople, culture, and landscape, and in that light the editors have succeeded. Richmond Clow University of Montana, Missoula NATIVE AMERICA, DISCOVEREDAND CONQUERED: THOMAS JEFFERSON, LEWIS AND CLARK, ANDMANIFEST DESTINY by Robert J. Miller Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, 2006. Notes, bibliography, index. 240 pages. $49.95 cloth. Robert J. Miller describes how United States policy makers deftlyused a precept of inter 500 OHQ vol. 108, no. 3 national law? the doctrine of discovery ? to subjugate Native Americans and seize theirland.According to Miller's definition, the doctrine of discovery held that "when Euro pean, Christian nations discovered new lands, the discovering country automatically gained sovereign and property rights in the lands of non-Christian, non-European peoples" (p. 8). This isa very narrow summary of amuch broader definition, composed of ten distinct elements that Miller employs in this work. The doctrine of discovery originated when the medieval Catholic Church sought to justify thedispossession of non-Christians. Western European powers thenused theprinciple, as it was developed and revised by church lawyers and legal philosophers, to determine prior ityamong competing territorialclaims. One signally important principle of the doctrine held that the discovering "Christian" nation assumed sovereigntyover newly found terri toryand acquired an exclusive "right of pre emption" topurchase fromNative residentsthe rightof possession ? the only titleacknowl edged to indigenous peoples by imperialist legal scholars. After theAmerican Revolutionary War, the nascent United States claimed itwas the Join OHS for the 40th Holiday Cheer and Authors' Party Sunday, December 2,12...

Britain urged to store nuclear waste underground

Britain urged to store nuclear waste underground

Technology as a Cultural Force: For Alena and Griffin

Technology as a Cultural Force For Alena and Griffin Albert Borgmann To various degrees, the citizens of the advanced industrial countries are suffering from a crisis that is as profound as it is vague and therefore hard to deal with. The problem is particularly acute in the United States, however, and in what follows, some of the illustrations pertain particularly to that country, the one I live in and know best. In any case, though vagueness obscures the crisis, there have to be symptoms of some sort; otherwise we would not feel troubled. What are the signs of trouble in the culture of technology and democracy? First there are economic problems — national budget deficits, problems of international trade, newly emerging and powerful competition, viz., India, and China, and the dwindling supply of oil. The last issue connects with the environmental worries. We could easily increase the supply of energy by burning coal and splitting atoms. The problem with the environment is not that it has run out as a source, but that it is overflowing as a sink. We don't know what to do with harmful emissions or how to store nuclear wastes. Hence global warming has become a looming threat. But pollution and species extinction remain problematic as well. In the political sphere, we face foreign and domestic issues. There are people that bitterly hate the liberal democracies and terrorize them as best they can. There are also people around the globe who are in bitter need of aid. Domestically, the distance between the rich and the poor and between conservatives and liberals is wide and has been growing in some cases. The sense of national unity and cooperation is weakening. [End Page 351] These are obvious and grave problems. But the problem with these problems is that we can solve them, and one gets the depressing feeling that even if they were solved, the deep and troubling malaise would remain. With the problems solved we might be in the position of the person who had ambitious goals and succeeded — the advanced degree, the appropriate spouse, the successful career, the children studying at elite universities, the retirement provided for, and still the sense of a life misspent. The industrial democracies could address their budget woes and stimulate innovation, production, and export. They could stretch their energy resources through technological sophistication and conservation and push the advancement of clean energy. They could improve on the Kyoto protocol and embrace the Millennium project. They could make taxes more progressive and increase welfare spending. They could increase domestic security and pursue a foreign policy that would decrease the resentment of so many Muslims. They could do this without severe consequences to their standard of living, and they would certainly be better countries as a consequence, more stable, more secure, more just. But we, the citizens of these democracies, would still be in a position of the person who to all appearances did everything right and yet feels empty, forlorn, and aimless. The overt problems having been resolved or at least addressed, we might eat well, but we would not sleep well. Something must be amiss in this analysis, however. If the signs of trouble in fact turn out to be overt problems that can be solved, where are the symptoms of the deeper troubles to begin with? There are, I believe, indicators in the economy, the environment, and politics that point to more profound issues. An economy whose prosperity has been set on a stable footing will fail to make us happy. An environment that is sustainable and benign will not give us a sense of belonging. And politics of social and global justice will leave us morally abandoned. There are people who have recognized and are concerned with these issues. Social scientists have observed that our economy is not designed to help people pursue happiness successfully. The deepest concern of most environmentalists is not just to secure a sustainable setting for our way of life, but to bring about a wider and more meaningful way of life. Finally, there is a hunger for a moral vision that liberals are desperately trying to understand and conservatives warmly embrace but largely misunderstand...