Intergenerational justice starts now: Recognizing future generations in nuclear waste management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.31.3.37Keywords:
nuclear waste, justice, repository, environmental justice, representativesAbstract
Intergenerational justice is an inherent component of nuclear waste management. By looking at challenges of intergenerational justice at various stages of the repository siting process, the following thesis is discussed: Current generations can anticipate notions of intergenerational justice by applying high procedural standards to enable equitable distribution between generations and thus adequately recognize the needs of future generations. Applying high standards in this context means a constantly critical, reflexive, and open process, without bias or selfishness. This requires representative bodies such as the German Council of the Young Generation (‘Rat der jungen Generation’) that act as a bridge to future generations.
References
Berger, Johannes (2004): „Über den Ursprung der Ungleichheit unter den Menschen“. Zur Vergangenheit und Gegenwart einer soziologischen Schlüsselfrage. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie 33 (5), pp. 354–374. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsoz-2004-0501
Blowers, Andrew (2010): Why dump on us? Power, pragmatism and the periphery in the siting of new nuclear reactors in the UK. In: Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences 7 (3), pp. 157–173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1943815X.2010.506488
Brunnengräber, Achim (2022): Katastrophe in der Katastrophe. In: Berliner Zeitung, 06. 04. 2022. Available online at https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/polwiss/forschung/grundlagen/ffn/forschung-alt/projekte/laufende/19_Transens/Brunnengraeber-Berliner-Zeitung-06-04-2022-AKW-im-Krieg.pdf, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022.
Bryan-Wilson, Julia (2002): Nuclear time. On markers to deter inadvertent human intrusion into the waste isolation pilot plant storage facility. In: Plazm Magazine 27. Available online at https://magazine.plazm.com/nuclear-timeon-markers-to-deter-inadvertent-human-intrusion-into-the-waste-isolationpilot-plant-85a44d39e29b, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022.
Campos, Andre (2019): The rights of future persons under attack. Correlativity in the non-identity problem. In: Philosophia 47 (3), pp. 625–648. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-018-0022-6
Campos, Andre (2021): The British Academy Brian Barry prize essay. Representing the future: The interests of future persons in representative democracy. In: British Journal of Political Science 51 (1), pp. 1–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S000712341900067X
Choi, Yunhee; Matsuoka, Shunji (2020): The relationship between trust, procedural justice, and distributive justice in high-level radioactive waste (HLW) management. In: Journal of Environmental Information Science 2020 (1), pp. 33–44.
Danesi, Marcel (2022): Warning signs. The semiotics of danger. London: Bloomsbury Academic. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350178335
Gosseries, Alex (2008): Theories of intergenerational justice. A synopsis. In: Surveys and perspectives integrating environment and society (S.A.P.I.E.N.S.) 1 (1), pp. 61–71. Available online at https://journals.openedition.org/sapiens/165, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/sapiens-1-39-2008
Hocke, Peter (2021): Endlagerung hochradioaktiver Abfälle. In: Armin Grunwald and Rafaela Hillerbrand (eds.): Handbuch Technikethik. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, pp. 388–392. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-04901-8_74
Hug, Annette (2021): Tiefenlager. Roman. Heidelberg: Wunderhorn.
Jenkins, Kirsten; Sovacool, Benjamin; McCauley, Darren (2018): Humanizing sociotechnical transitions through energy justice. An ethical framework for global transformative change. In: Energy Policy 117, pp. 66–74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.02.036
Kasperski, Tatiana; Storm, Anna (2020): Eternal care. Nuclear waste as toxic legacy and future fantasy. In: Geschichte und Gesellschaft 46 (4), pp. 682–705. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13109/gege.2020.46.4.682
Kermisch, Celine (2016): Specifying the concept of future generations for address- ing issues related to high-level radioactive waste. In: Science and Engineering Ethics 22 (6), pp. 1797–1811. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9741-2
Kunreuther, Howard; Easterling, Douglas; Desvousges, William; Slovic, Paul (1990): Public attitudes toward siting a high-level nuclear waste repository in Nevada. In: Risk Analysis 10 (4), pp. 469–484. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1990.tb00533.x
Lamnek, Siegfried (2010): Qualitative Sozialforschung. Weinheim: Beltz.
Lehtonen, Markku (2021): Das Wunder von Onkalo? Zur unerträglichen Leichtigkeit der finnischen Suche nach einem Endlager. In: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 71 (21–23), pp. 32–37. Available online at https://www.bpb.de/apuz/333368/das-wunder-von-onkalo-zur-unertraeglichen-leichtigkeit-derfinnischen-suche-nach-einem-endlager, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022.
Leigh, Christi; Dotson, Lori (2011): Interim storage, environmental justice, and generational equity. American Nuclear Society, International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico, 11.–14. 04. 2011. Available online at https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1141764, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022.
Liebig, Stefan; Scheller, Percy (2007): Gerechtigkeit zwischen den Generationen. In: Berliner Journal für Soziologie 17 (3), pp. 301–321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11609-007-0027-7
NSDO – North Saxony District Office (2020): Landrat Emanuel. Strukturwandel kann nicht in Atommüll-Lager münden. In: Leipziger Zeitung, 28. 09. 2020. Available online at https://www.l-iz.de/melder/wortmelder/2020/09/Landrat-Emanuel-Strukturwandel-kann-nicht-in-Atommuell-Lagermuenden-351351, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022.
Okrent, David (1999): On intergenerational equity and its clash with intragenerational equity and on the need for policies to guide the regulation of disposal of wastes and other activities posing very long-term risks. In: Risk Analysis 19 (5), pp. 877–901. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1999.tb00449.x
Ott, Konrad; Semper, Franziska (2017): Nicht von meiner Welt. Zukunftsverantwortung bei der Endlagerung von radioaktiven Reststoffen. In: GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society 26 (2), pp. 100–102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.26.2.9
Röhlig, Klaus-Jürgen; Eckhardt, Anne (2017): Primat der Sicherheit. Ja, aber welche Sicherheit ist gemeint? In: GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society 26 (2), pp. 103–105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.26.2.10
Röhlig, Klaus-Jürgen; Häfner, Daniel; Lux, Karl-Heinz; Hassel, Thomas; Stahlmann, Joachim (2017): Einschluss oder Zugriff. Tiefenlagerung ohne oder mit Vorkehrungen zur Rückholbarkeit. In: GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society 26 (2), pp. 114–117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.26.2.13
Schlosberg, David (2004): Reconceiving environmental justice. Global movements and political theories. In: Environmental Politics 13 (3), pp. 517–540. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0964401042000229025
Schwarz, Lucas; Themann, Dörte; Brunnengräber, Achim (2021): Räume erobern, öffnen und verteidigen. Über die Wirkung von Macht beim dritten Beratungstermin der Fachkonferenz Teilgebiete. In: Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen Plus 34 (4). Available online at https://forschungsjournal.de/fjsb-plus/schwarz-themann-brunnengraeber-raeume-erobern-oeffnenund-verteidigen/, last accessed on 03. 11. 2022.
Seidl, Roman; Krütli, Pius; Moser, Corinne; Stauffacher, Michael (2013): Values in the siting of contested infrastructure: The case of repositories for nuclear waste. In: Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences 10 (2), pp. 107–125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1943815X.2013.824486
Shrader-Frechette, Kristin (2000): Duties to future generations, proxy consent, intra- and intergenerational equity. The case of nuclear waste. In: Risk Analysis 20 (6), pp. 771–778. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0272-4332.206071
Spaemann, Robert (2003): Ethische Aspekte der Endlagerung. In: Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (ed.): Ethische Aspekte der Endlagerung. Bonn: Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, pp. 25–63.
Steinebrunner, Martin (2019): The experience of the Swiss negotiated approach. Borders as a challenge. In: Achim Brunnengräber and Maria Rosaria Di Nucci (eds.): Conflicts, participation and acceptability in nuclear waste governance. An international comparison volume III. Wiesbaden: Springer, pp. 357–381. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-27107-7_18
Tremmel, Joerg (2021): The four-branches model of government. Representing future generations. In: Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Marcel Szabó and Alexandra Harrington (eds.): Intergenerational justice in sustainable development treaty implementation. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, pp. 754–780. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108768511.045
Tremmel, Jörg (2017): Constitutions as intergenerational contracts. Flexible or fixed? (II) In: Intergenerational Justice Review 3 (1), pp. 4–17.
Warren, Mark (2002): What can democratic participation mean today? In: Political Theory 30 (5), pp. 677–701. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591702030005003
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Lucas Schwarz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.