On radiation protection and climate change – a summary

Abstract

planned for construction as well as those at proposal stage. However, the ethics of nuclear power is increasingly under challenge due to the incidents at the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants, and concerns over radioactive discharges, safe management of radioactive waste and lack of an operational repository for spent nuclear fuel. Central to these concerns is the perceived unique radiological risk of nuclear power. But in a world where Climate Change presents a threat to the entire planet, is nuclear power and the associated radiological risk not ethical? Exploring the interplay between climate change ethics and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)’s System of Radiological Protection, we consider the major contribution that new nuclear power stations can make to climate change mitigation, through decarbonisation of power systems, and finally unpick the case for nuclear power in this new world of climate change ethics.