The Ethical Landscape of Nuclear Power Development in the USA
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Authors
Dupon, Elsa
Issue Date
2025-04-03
Type
Language
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Abstract
Description
My thesis project and Honours Day presentation will cover why nuclear energy is a
relevant priority within the landscape of renewable energy sources. Different factors make
nuclear technology one of the most reliable, consistent, and efficient energy resources, yet
those same factors contribute to its risks. While the technology’s benefits may outweigh its
disadvantages, solutions to safeguarding all facets of the nuclear fuel cycle need to be taken
into consideration alongside their new externalities and ethical ramifications. Additionally,
businesses, government, civilians, foreign investors, industry competitors, and other key
stakeholders in the nuclear industry all have different individual interests in their participation. It
is the responsibility of the law to address each of these parties’ perspectives to some degree,
however this is not always carried out with equity in mind.
I will explore the legal landscape of developing nuclear technology, including its barriers, such
as public perception. When weighing the costs and benefits of the energy source, it is important
to decide whether public stigma should be considered as a factor equivalent to or on par with
objective technological risks, or as a utilitarian barrier to making nuclear technology more safe
and efficient. Advancements, their benefits included, create their own accumulating additional
risks. I will examine these risks and criticize how they are balanced with safeguarding, economic
interest, and external public demand within the law. I will achieve this by examining several
court cases in the United States centering around the regulation of specific nuclear energy
developments to build a criticism of their ethical implications. This illustration of how this
technology is considered legally will contextualize the industry, its future, and how to most
ethically regulate it considering all its externalities.