The Art of Being Ethical and Responsible: Print Media Debate on Final Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Finland and Sweden

After decades of preparation, the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel has reached the construction stage in Finland, and the neighboring Sweden is likely to soon follow in the footsteps. These Nordic countries rely on a similar technical concept based on passive safety, advocated as a means of minimizing the burden to future generations. The scholarly literature on the ethics of nuclear waste management has thus far paid little attention to the views of the broader publics on the associated ethical challenges.

Youth movements, intergenerational justice, and climate litigation in the deep time context of the Anthropocene

After decades of ineffective state-led global climate governance that has been dominated by mostly short-term Northern political and corporate interests, we are now witnessing an increased recognition of the planetary scale of the climate crisis and its impacts on present and future life on Earth. The Anthropocene is argued to be the new geological epoch and is associated with fast-approaching planetary boundaries and a new understanding of promethean humans as a powerful geological force.

Interim Storage, Environmental Justice, and Generational Equity

With the termination of the Yucca Mountain project, which was proposed to be our nation’s first repository for the disposal of military and civilian spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, the future of nuclear waste management and disposal in this country became increasingly uncertain. Interim storage has been advocated by many as a temporary solution while a permanent solution is studied for potentially several more decades to come.

The Social and Ethical Aspects of Nuclear Waste

Nuclear waste management seems to exist in a perpetual state of crises. For 50 years the nuclear states of the world have fought, and generally lost, the battle to deal with the nuclear waste problem. Worldwide, there is a growing acknowledgement within industry and government that social and ethical issues are just as important as technical issues when developing safe programs for nuclear waste management. This paper is a review of some of the outstanding social and ethical issues that are influencing discussions on nuclear waste management around the world.

Taking a Future Generation’s Perspective as a Facilitator of Insight Problem-Solving: Sustainable Water Supply Management

Human societies face various unsustainability problems, often characterized as “wicked” in the sense that they have no single definitive formulation. Thus, the role of creativity or insight in solving such problems has attracted a lot of attention from scholars. Therefore, this study investigated how an emerging methodology, Future Design (and its unique intervention of asking problem solvers to take a future generation’s perspective), can facilitate insight problem solving (IPS) and the generation of sustainable solutions.

Intergenerational connections in radioactive waste management: Involving children and youth

The Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) was established by the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) in 2000 and serves as a platform for understanding stakeholder dialogue and discussing methods to develop shared confidence, informed consent and approval of radioactive waste (RW) management solutions.

Fostering stakeholder involvement across generations - participation after site selection

In October 2022, the NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) organised, in collaboration with the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials (ONDRAF/NIRAS), a national workshop in Dessel, Belgium, to explore the topic of stakeholder involvement across generations.Building on previous work on this topic, participants gathered to discuss how to keep local communities involved in radioactive waste management after site selection, how to engage youth as key stakeholders and which approaches can be used to communicate with stakeholders now and in the future.

Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice: Fit for All Generations?

Global transformations – from population ageing to digitalisation, rising inequalities and climate change – have created profound uncertainties for young people and future generations, despite unprecedented access to information, education and technology. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing challenges in youth’s mental well-being and employment, while raising concerns about the sustainability of public finances.

Increasing collaboration and participation in smart city governance: a cross-case analysis of smart city initiatives

This study addresses the concept of smart governance in the context of smart cities, with a focus on analyzing the phenomenon of smart collaboration. Relying on the existing collaboration and participation concepts in the smart city domain, an empirical analysis was undertaken of how ICT can promote collaborative governance and increase the participation and engagement in government. The multiple case studies focus on three cities in Brazil that run municipal operations centers in an effort to “become smarter”: Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and Belo Horizonte.

Intergenerational justice starts now: Recognizing future generations in nuclear waste management

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.

The Morally Desirable Option for Nuclear Power Production

This paper reflects on the various possible nuclear power production methods from an ethical perspective. The production and consumption of nuclear power give rise to the problem of intergenerational justice; in other words, we are depleting a nonrenewable resource in the form of uranium while the radiotoxic waste that is generated carries very long-term potential burdens. I argue that the morally desirable option should therefore be to seek to safeguard the interests of future generations.

A Framework for Effectively Partnering With Young People

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative® works to ensure that young people — ages 14 to 26 in the United States who have spent at least one day in foster care after their 14th birthday — have the resources, relationships and opportunities to achieve well-being and success. The Jim Casey Initiative does this by focusing on four key indicators: permanency, stable housing, educational success and economic security and pregnancy prevention and parenting support.

Intergenerational Ethical Issues and Communication Related to High-Level Nuclear Waste Repositories

Purpose of Review: The nuclear power industry started in the 1950s and has now reached a phase of disposing high-level nuclear waste. Since the 1980s, the United Nations has developed a concept of sustainable development and governments have accordingly made ethical commitments to take responsibility towards future generations. The purpose of this review is to examine ethical dilemmas related to high-level nuclear waste disposal in a long-term perspective including potential access to the waste in the future.

Intergenerational solidarity and the needs of future generations : report of the Secretary-General

The present report has been prepared pursuant to paragraph 86 of the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, in which the Secretary-General was invited to present a report on the need for promoting intergenerational solidarity for the achievement of sustainable development, taking into account the needs of future generations.

Promoting Intergenerational Justice Through Participatory Practices: Climate Workshops as an Arena for Young People’s Political Participation

In the fall of 2019, Trøndelag County Council, Norway, organized a Climate Workshop for children and youth. The intention of the workshop was to include children’s and youth’s perspectives as a foundation for a policy document titled “How we do it in Trøndelag. Strategy for transformations to mitigate climate change”. The workshop involved a range of creative and discussion tools for input on sustainable development and climate politics.

Perceptions of justice influencing community acceptance of spent nuclear fuel disposal. A case study in two Finnish nuclear communities

Final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from nuclear power plants (NPPs) is an ethical issue with implications within and across generations. We address this issue from the perspective of nuclear communities that host nuclear waste disposal sites. These are primarily the communities that face injustice due to the potential radiological risks. A resident survey (n = 454) was conducted in two Finnish nuclear communities, i.e. Eurajoki and Pyhäjoki, that are being considered as alternative sites for a second repository for SNF.

International Finance Corporation’s Guidance Notes: Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability

1. IFC has prepared a set of Guidance Notes, corresponding to the Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability. These Guidance Notes offer helpful guidance on the requirements contained in the Performance Standards, including reference materials, and on good sustainability practices to improve project performance. These Guidance Notes are not intended to establish policy by themselves; instead, they explain the requirements in the Performance Standards. 

Respecting free, prior and informed consent: Practical guidance for governments, companies, NGOs, indigenous peoples and local communities in relation to land acquisition

Large-scale investments in land are spreading faster than ever before across the global south. Often these investments target lands governed by customary rights that are not adequately recognized and protected under national laws, or sites where governments lack the capacity to enforce the law. Land deals that change the use of land and natural resources have wide implications for indigenous peoples and local communities who depend primarily on these resources for their livelihoods, welfare and cultural identity.

Environmental Justice Strategy

In November 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) re‐established its Environmental Justice (EJ) Task Force to review and update the 1995 Environmental Justice Strategy and develop an Environmental Justice Five‐Year Implementation Plan.

Public awareness and stakeholder involvement for Bangladesh’s nuclear power plant

Nuclear energy renders itself as one of the sustainable energy sources for power production available now. But the major nuclear accident that occurred in the nuclear industry has shown that the generation of nuclear energy has an inherent risk for the environment and the eco-system. Therefore, members of the public - the principal stakeholders - shall be provided with significant opportunities for their engagement in every phase of construction of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

U.S. Department of Energy’s Equity Action Plan

The Department of Energy (hereinafter DOE or the Department) is responsible for ensuring the Nation’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. DOE maintains the Nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, reduces the threat of nuclear proliferation, oversees the Nation’s energy supply, leads the Nation in areas of federally sponsored basic research critical to U.S.

What’s Fairness Got to Do with It? Environmental Justice and the Siting of Locally Undesirable Land Uses

Policy makers and local land use officials have long struggled to cope with the "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome in attempting to site "locally undesirable land uses" (LULUs), such as homeless shelters, drug or alcohol treatment centers, and waste disposal facilities. In general, LULUs are considered beneficial to society at large,' and many agree that they should be located somewhere. Those same citizens protest vigorously, however, when such a use is sited near their homes. This protest is quite rational.

Shared Yet Contested: Energy Democracy Counter-Narratives

Conventional ways of communicating about the transition to renewable energy in North America presuppose that energy systems can be changed while sustaining existing social, political, and economic relations. Energy democracy counters such ostensibly apolitical narratives by emphasizing the socially transformative potential of this transition. Yet energy democracy, as both organizing principle and social movement, is itself increasingly recognized as flexible and contested.

Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis

The purpose of this document, the Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis (referred to throughout this document as the EJ Technical Guidance), is to outline particular technical approaches and methods to help Agency analysts (including economists, risk assessors, and others) analyze potential EJ concerns for regulatory actions.4 Senior EPA managers will also find this document useful for understanding analytic expectations and ensuring that potential EJ concerns are appropriately considered and addressed in the development of regulatory actions.

Community Involvement Plan: Area IV, Santa Susana Field Laboratory

As a result of the 2007 ruling by the U.S. District Court of Northern California that the DOE must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate alternatives for cleanup of Area IV of the SSFL, DOE has implemented major changes in its management of SSFL Area IV. As an initial step, this community involvement plan (CIP) outlines a series of activities and programs that intend to engage the public, establish transparency in DOE actions and decisions, and increase input from the community.