NUCLEAR POWER

Nuclear Power

Abstract

Securing the long-term future of the UK energy supply is a priority for the government. In order to match energy use to future CO2 emission targets they are also looking at alternatives to fossil fuels for the answer. The reason for seeking alternative power sources for the UK is two-fold. First, Britain has become a net importer of gas in 2004, seven years after becoming a net exporter. Secondly, the majority of the power that we are consuming is fossil-fuel based and therefore during its consumption produces harmful greenhouse gases. The importance of nuclear energy technology is not limited to its widespread use nor the complex political and economic issues often present. While all of these issues are important, the focus of this report is on the ethical analysis of nuclear energy technology. The ethical analysis applied in this report is pluralistic, which is neither absolute nor relative. It ?accepts different moral convictions and backgrounds while at the same time suggesting that a consensus on basic principles and rules in a certain social context can, and should, be reached

Table of Content

ABSTRACTII

INTRODUCTION1

Central Idea1

Background1

Scope & limitations2

DISCUSSION3

Case Study of Anti-Nuclear Adoption3

RECOMMENDATIONS7

CONCLUSION9

REFERENCES12

INTRODUCTION

Central Idea

As a result of the Climate Change Bill published in 2007, the UK is required to cut its total CO2 emissions by 60% - compared to 1990 levels - by 2050. Much of the energy provided to businesses and domestic properties in the UK is imported and is also high in carbon emissions. So, finding greener alternative sources of energy will not only remove the UK's reliance on imported power, it will also benefit the world's climate.

Once considered unpalatable by politicians and the public as a prolonged source of energy, the adoption of nuclear power is now a major part of the development strategy for UK future energy supplies, along with the advancement of renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wave and wind power. France generates almost 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy and although there are concerns about the safe disposal and storage of waste materials from nuclear plants, they certainly do not generate anywhere near the amount of carbon emissions given off by traditional coal-fired power stations. In the UK, the building of two new nuclear power plants at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk is already in the planning stage. This pluralistic view is informed by both traditional and contemporary normative theories. Traditional theories, which are absolute in intention and theoretically provide unequivocal solutions, can be divided into teleological and deontological theories. The former includes ethical egoism and utilitarianism, while the latter includes theories of duties, rights, and justice. As traditional theories are very abstract and reductionist, contemporary theories are more practical.

Background

Contemporary theories include virtue ethics, the ethics of care, discourse ethics, and post-modern ethics. Pluralistic approaches have been often been applied in fields such as bioethics, business ethics, and environmental ethics. In bioethics, one textbook series has often crystallized ethical theories into four basic principles (autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and ...