The Humanitarian Atom: The Role of Nuclear Power in Addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

After decades of mostly rhetoric on climate change, robust and urgent actions must be taken to avoid its worst effects. However, the energy transition discourse reflects an anti-humanitarian philosophy that will undermine any serious efforts of achieving decarbonisation, as well as merely entrenching already-existing global inequalities. The potential of nuclear power for radically reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been well-explored. However, to date, few attempts have been made to fully discern the broader positive impacts nuclear technology can have on achieving sustainable and equitable development. Nuclear science and technology have broad applications and should be placed at the centre of policies aimed at combatting energy poverty, reducing air pollution, providing clean water, addressing food insecurity, or fulfilling any other of the United Nations’ 17 SDGs. This chapter explores the centrality of energy in ensuring sustainable development, a just energy transition, and the importance of nuclear energy, which goes far beyond simply delivering low-carbon electricity.

Pakistan and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime

The arrival of nuclear weapons was detrimental in changing the nature of warfare; duringWWII, we used nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities. The catastrophic effect of nuclear weapons made the pioneers apprehensive about the spread of nuclear technology across the globe. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime (NNPR) is a set of international rules, norms, initiatives, agreements, arrangements, bilateral and multilateral treaties to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and technology. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the backbone of NNPR. This paper discusses the significance of NNPR and will focus on how Pakistan fits into the bigger picture of the NNPR as a nuclear state. This research study will further analyze the prospects and challenges for Pakistan viz a viz the NNPR. It will specifically focus on Pakistan's official position on joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), and the two relevant Export Control Regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group and Missile Technology Control Regime). Moreover, the challenges Pakistan faces viz-a-viz these treaties and arrangements will be highlighted. Recommendations will be provided based on the prospects of how Pakistan can overcome these challenges.

CONCEPT DESIGN FOR A SUEZMAX TANKER POWERED BY A 70MW SMALL MODULAR REACTOR

This paper describes a preliminary concept design study for a Suezmax tanker that is based on a conventional hull form with alternative arrangements for accommodating a 70MW Small Modular Reactor (SMR) propulsion plant. Emerging nuclear technology concepts, associated design risks and technical options available are outlined within the context of risk based ship design. It is concluded that the concept is feasible and the adoption of the technology would be compatible with the target application. However, further maturity of nuclear technology solutions and the development and harmonisation of the regulatory framework will be necessary before implementation of the ideas presented would be viable.

Nuclear Awareness

This chapter draws attention to the concept of nuclear awareness that arose in the wake of the nuclear catastrophes. It highlights epistemic and political stakes: the almost unimaginable timetables of nuclear energy (extraction and waste) on one hand, and the threat of instantaneous destruction on the other. The chapter emphasizes nuclear awareness as a critical assertion of nuclear energy and its societal impact and as a trigger of critical thinking of nuclear technology, nuclear power production, nuclear agenda, as well as their challenges and opportunities involved. The chapter analyzes the tools of narrating the Chernobyl disaster in the contemporary nuclear fiction, regarded as a archive of the nuclear Anthropocene and a case of nuclear knowledge management.

Kerntechnik als Sicherheitsversprechen

In the mid-1970s, the dangers associated with nuclear power moved to the center of risk debates in Germany. Following the reactor accident at Three Mile Island (1979) and the Chernobyl disaster (1986), the West German nuclear industry’s business prospects severely deteriorated. How did the nuclear industry perceive and confront the challenge of nuclear skepticism? And how did this emerging challenge alter the perceived future of nuclear technology in the Federal Republic and beyond? The article argues that the nuclear industry did not passively accept the »depletion of utopian energies« (J. Habermas) to which the peaceful use of the atom was subjected. Instead, the industry worked to create new (utopian) prospects for nuclear power. The industry’s public relations campaign positioned nuclear power in two interrelated fields of insecurity: the decline of industrial society and environmental crises. Both threats, ran the argument put forth by nuclear proponents, could only be combatted by relying on nuclear power for electricity production. In this way, nuclear power was translated into a comprehensive promise of security that was intended to salvage the future of nuclear power as well as that of its investors in the face of growing anti-nuclear sentiment.

Should We Deploy Nuclear Energy?

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.

Conceptual Design of Nuclear Wet Steam Turbines for Ease of Mass Manufacture

If the nuclear electricity generation is to play a significant role in the decarbonisation of the advanced economies in line with international commitments, construction rates will have to be achieved that are much greater than those achieved historically. This will require a root and branch reassessment of the nuclear technology base to maximise achievable industrial mobilisation. It is important to avoid ‘reactor chauvinism’ that might constrain us to technologies that whilst suited for regular times are un-suited to a challenge of this scale. A conceptual design for a CANDU reactor conventional island is proposed in this work. The design economises on components with laborious fabrication requirements, such as tubed heat exchangers, as well as leveraging developments in other sectors such as power electronics, and its potential performance is evaluated.

Social License in the Deployment of Advanced Nuclear Technology

The deployment of advanced nuclear technologies is anticipated to be part of the actions required to mitigate global climate change. The successful deployment of these new technologies, like all new infrastructure projects, will be more successful if the projects have strong public support. Successful deployment of energy infrastructure correlates with thoughtful approaches to equitable energy transitions. This work recalls the history of recent energy infrastructure deployments, shows where the inclusion of social scientists has improved the possibility of success and proposes specific steps to make future deployments of advanced nuclear technologies successful.