Data trimming, nuclear emissions, and climate change
Science and Engineering Ethics 15 (1) (2009)
| Abstract | Ethics requires good science. Many scientists, government leaders, and industry representatives support tripling of global-nuclear-energy capacity on the grounds that nuclear fission is “carbon free” and “releases no greenhouse gases.” However, such claims are scientifically questionable (and thus likely to lead to ethically questionable energy choices) for at least 3 reasons. (i) They rely on trimming the data on nuclear greenhouse-gas emissions (GHGE), perhaps in part because flawed Kyoto Protocol conventions require no full nuclear-fuel-cycle assessment of carbon content. (ii) They underestimate nuclear-fuel-cycle releases by erroneously assuming that mostly high-grade uranium ore, with much lower emissions, is used. (iii) They inconsistently compare nuclear-related GHGE only to those from fossil fuels, rather than to those from the best GHG-avoiding energy technologies. Once scientists take account of (i)–(iii), it is possible to show that although the nuclear fuel cycle releases (per kWh) much fewer GHG than coal and oil, nevertheless it releases far more GHG than wind and solar-photovoltaic. Although there may be other, ethical, reasons to support nuclear tripling, reducing or avoiding GHG does not appear to be one of them. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,709 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesFrancis Bridger (ed.) (1983). The Cross and the Bomb: Christian Ethics and the Nuclear Debate. Mowbray.
Robert E. Goodin (1985). Disarming Nuclear Apologists. Inquiry 28 (1-4):153 – 176.
Henry Shue (ed.) (1989). Nuclear Deterrence and Moral Restraint. Cambridge University Press.
John Levendis, Walter Block & Joseph Morrel (2006). Nuclear Power. Journal of Business Ethics 67 (1):37 - 49.
Gilles D. Hurteau (1989). Global Peace as a Professional Concern, II. Journal of Business Ethics 8 (2-3):173 - 175.
Behnam Taebi & Jan Leen Kloosterman (2008). To Recycle or Not to Recycle? An Intergenerational Approach to Nuclear Fuel Cycles. Science and Engineering Ethics 14 (2).
Jeremy Galbreath (2011). To What Extent is Business Responding to Climate Change? Evidence From a Global Wine Producer. Journal of Business Ethics 104 (3):421-432.
Kristin Shrader-Frechette (2011). Climate Change, Nuclear Economics, and Conflicts of Interest. Science and Engineering Ethics 17 (1):75-107.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads32 ( #38,009 of 549,699 )Recent downloads (6 months)3 ( #25,807 of 549,699 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
