This work examines when which kind of risk in the field of nuclear energy was perceived as relevant by politics and the industry and whether a shift concerning this risk perception can be identified. It also clarifies which of the involved actors – public or private – had and still have to cover the different risks. The division into public and private actors results from the circumstances that nuclear energy was not created out of the industry’s desperate search for a new energy source but the historical fact that nuclear energy was a state-sponsored technology transfer from the military sector into the civil sector of energy production.
This work deals with Risk and Risk Evaluation, the Role of Nuclear Energy in the United States, the Entanglement of the Public and Private Sector, Risk Distribution among Private and Public Actors in different Fields of Nuclear Energy and gives an Outlook on Potential Future Research. As it can be deduced from this itemization, this work becomes gradually narrower and leads to the main corpus of this work – the fifth block on risk-distribution among private and public actors in different fields of nuclear energy.
In the section concerning risk and risk evaluation it will be tried to lead over to the theoretical basis of this work. The section however starts with "The Changing Nature of Risk", in which the general risk discourse will be discussed and it will be shown that risk has developed from a purely natural to a technological phenomenon and, in its later perception, is perceived as a hybrid threat of the two aforementioned, in which natural disasters unveil the weaknesses of mankind’s constructions and the catastrophes become significantly more disastrous – as seen in Fukushima. After the introduction of this relatively abstract risk discourse, the technological process of creating nuclear energy and its risks will be presented. Especially the latter mentioned will serve, at the end of this work, as an additional basis for comparison.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Changing Nature of Risk
2.1 The Production of Nuclear Energy
2.2 Potential Risks before, during, and after the Production of Nuclear Energy
2.3 Risk-Assessment of Nuclear Energy and its Limits
2.4 How to Regulate Risks caused by Nuclear Energy?
3. The Role of Nuclear Energy in the United States
3.1 A Short History of Nuclear Energy in the United States
3.2 Geopolitics and Nuclear Energy
3.3 The Economic Aspects of Nuclear Energy
4. The Entanglement of Private Enterprises and the U.S. Government
4.1 The AEC and the JCAE
4.2 The NRC and ERDA/Department of Energy
5. Regulations and Subsidies
5.1 Construction and Operating
5.1.1 The Early Phase of Nuclear Energy/The Light Water Reactor (1946-1963)
5.1.2 Commercialization Phase of the LWR/Development of the HTGR
5.1.3 The Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) and the Decay of the Nuclear Industry in the United States
5.1.4 The Failed Renaissance of Nuclear Energy in the United States
5.1.5 Summary of Research, Construction, and Operation
5.2 The Fuel Cycle
5.2.1 Uranium Mining
5.2.2 Enrichment
5.2.3 Reprocessing
5.2.4 Waste Disposal
5.2.4.1 Low-Level Nuclear Waste
5.2.4.2 High-Level Nuclear Waste
5.2.5 Summary of the Fuel Cycle
5.3 External Threats
5.3.1 Terror Scenarios involving Fissile Materials
5.3.2 Reactor Site Safety
5.3.3 Cyber-terrorism
5.3.4 Summary of External Threats
5.4 Conclusion: Tendencies in Risk Distribution concerning Nuclear Matters
6. The Future of Nuclear Energy and Potential Future Research
Objectives & Research Focus
This work aims to determine how risk perceptions in the nuclear energy sector have shifted among political and industrial actors over time and to clarify the distribution of these risks between public and private stakeholders, particularly considering the state-sponsored origins of nuclear technology.
- Historical evolution of risk perception in U.S. nuclear energy policy.
- Distribution of financial and non-financial risks among public and private actors.
- Regulatory shifts and the role of government subsidies in market commercialization.
- Security challenges including external threats such as terrorism and cyber-attacks.
- Analysis of the nuclear fuel cycle and waste management liabilities.
Excerpt from the Book
2. The Changing Nature of Risk
“Risk is the potential for realization of unwanted, negative consequences of an event” (Rowe 1977: 24). Kates and Kasperson follow a similar approach when they state that “[…] risks are measures of the likelihood of specific hazardous events leading to certain adverse consequences” (1983:7029). But then again risk has been defined as the probability (or probability distribution) of positive and negative consequences, which can occur when a certain action or incident has been realized (cf. Renn 1984: 97). By those definitions, risk is not a fixed value but only a probability with which certain events and their consequences, negative as well as positive, may occur. Those three definitions already show that risk has always been a contested term and was negotiated and defined countless times. All three definitions have in common that they assign a certain probability to an event. The assignment of probabilities to different outcomes differentiates risk from uncertainty (cf. Knight 1965/1921). It can be stated that information about the world plays a crucial role in decision-making and the risk discourse. However, not only knowledge is crucial for the risk discourse but also the question of agency. Some scholars differentiate between risk (chosen by oneself) and danger (chosen by someone else) (cf. Rescher 1983: 6/7). But even without active decision-making, risk and danger has been mankind’s companion ever since as “[t]here will always be crisis, catastrophes and uncertainty” (Müller 1994: 372). For ages, the main causes of risk were produced by human environment itself as humans were depended on climate and fertile soil (cf. Renn 1984: 30) and so “natural phenomena such as earthquakes, storms, floods, or tsunamis” but also droughts were uncontrollable and God-given (Macamo/Neubert 2012: 82). However, perception of mankind’s impotence can only be uphold until mankind developed mechanisms to foresee, to control, and to mitigate the impacts of those disasters (Renn 1984: 29). One promising attempt to foresee, control, and mitigate risks was the development of technology.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the dual research questions concerning the historical shift in risk perception and the allocation of responsibilities between public and private actors in nuclear energy.
2. The Changing Nature of Risk: Examines the theoretical evolution of risk from natural occurrences to man-made technological phenomena and discusses the limitations of classic probability-based risk evaluation.
3. The Role of Nuclear Energy in the United States: Provides a historical overview of U.S. nuclear developments, analyzing geopolitical strategies and the economic aspects that have shaped the industry's trajectory.
4. The Entanglement of Private Enterprises and the U.S. Government: Analyzes the institutional history and regulatory capture involving the AEC, JCAE, and later agencies, illustrating how political and private interests converged.
5. Regulations and Subsidies: Investigates the distribution of financial and operational risks across reactor construction, the fuel cycle, and security, identifying trends in privatization and state liability.
6. The Future of Nuclear Energy and Potential Future Research: Reflects on the waning significance of nuclear power in the face of economic hurdles and climate goals, suggesting avenues for comparative future research.
Keywords
Nuclear energy, risk assessment, U.S. government, private enterprise, risk distribution, regulation, fuel cycle, nuclear waste, proliferation, security, terrorism, cyber-terrorism, subsidy, AEC, NRC.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary objective of this work?
The work seeks to investigate the historical perception of nuclear risks by political and industrial actors and to determine how these risks—and their associated financial responsibilities—have been distributed between the public and private sectors in the United States.
What are the central thematic fields?
The central themes include the evolution of risk assessment theory, the geopolitical and economic history of nuclear power, the institutional entanglement between the U.S. government and private industry, and the challenges of nuclear waste management and security.
What methodology is employed?
The study utilizes a "risk-based regulation" approach to analyze past laws, guidelines, and subsidy arrangements to reconstruct how government priorities and responsibilities have shifted over time.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body details the evolution of reactor technology, the complexities of the nuclear fuel cycle (mining, enrichment, reprocessing, storage), and the contemporary challenges posed by security threats, specifically terrorism and cyber-terrorism.
What are the key keywords?
The core concepts are nuclear energy, risk distribution, regulation, public-private partnerships, nuclear waste management, proliferation, and the security of critical infrastructure.
Why is the role of the AEC and JCAE significant?
These institutions were pivotal in the early development of nuclear energy in the U.S., serving as both primary supporters and regulators, which created deep conflicts of interest and established a precedent for industry-government entanglement.
How does the book categorize external threats?
The book categorizes external threats into natural disasters, human-made acts such as sabotage and terrorism, and the emerging field of cyber-terrorism against digital infrastructure.
What does the author conclude about the "nuclear renaissance"?
The author concludes that the attempted nuclear renaissance in the early 2000s failed due to high construction costs, economic crises, and persistent safety concerns, exacerbated by the lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Till Neuhaus (Autor:in), 2018, Risk-Distribution among Public and Private Actors in the United States' Nuclear Sector, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/470715
