Research On Nuclear Waste Governance From The Perspective Of Responsibility Ethics

Nuclear energy has played an important role in the global energy mix.Its future development will be affected by both nuclear technology innovation and nuclear waste governance.Long-standing nuclear waste is a huge challenge for contemporary mankind.Due to the complexity of the nuclear waste governance and the possibility of future technological development,only by a systematic ethical reflection based on the long-term historical development of all mankind,can human make a steady and sustainable progress on the road of peaceful use of nuclear energy.There are multiple paths in the research of nuclear waste governance.The main goal of this paper is to study the problem of nuclear waste governance from the perspective of responsibility ethics.This paper mainly studies the following contents:Firstly,the hazards of nuclear waste to human beings and nature are systematically combed,the development of nuclear waste governance technology is traced back,the similarities and differences of technology development and governance decisions in different periods are analyzed,and the responsibility connotation of nuclear waste governance is studied.Secondly,the essential attributes of nuclear waste governance,including complexity,uncertainty,duality,super-objectifiability and depth-duration are systematically analyzed,and the social problems caused by nuclear waste are philosophically traced from the perspectives of scientism,technocracy,anthropocentrism and nihilism.At the same time,radioactive pollution remediation technology as an example is analyzed ethically from intention,process and result,which the ethical challenges in six aspects,charity and no harm,safety and risk,fairness and justice,responsibility and obligation,caution and fear,dignity and autonomy,are discussed.Thirdly,according to the realistic dilemma and challenges of nuclear waste governance,it points out that the essence of nuclear waste governance from the perspective of responsibility ethics is the recognition and observance of responsibility ethics.Then,the research framework of responsibility ethics for nuclear waste governance based on Jonas and Apel’s responsibility ethics is constructed,and the value of responsibility ethics for nuclear waste is deeply expounded from intragenerational fairness,intergenerational justice and environmental justice.Fourthly,based on the macro background that countries all over the world are making efforts to formulate and implement the strategy of nuclear waste governance,this paper analyzes the construction of multi-responsible subjects for collaborative governance and the establishment and improvement of responsibility ethics for nuclear waste governance from subject compound,scope orientation and object integrity.Fifthly,the systematic governance viewpoint is put forward,which the ethical issue of nuclear waste is not only a moral expectation for the future,but also highlights the current demand of responsibility ethics.In practice,the key is to rely on the responsibility ethics and reshape the vision of moral responsibility to move towards a new era of responsible nuclear waste governance.This paper also puts forward a new responsibility ethics based on responsible research and innovation,analyzes the participation of responsible research and innovation in the nuclear waste governance,evaluates the complex nuclear waste governance technologies through the expected technical ethics assessment,and puts forward an ethical list,aiming at promoting the internalization of responsibilities and establishing the ability and methods to deal with negative consequences,which provides more sufficient information for the formulation of scientific agenda and technical decision-making.The paper also looks forward to the future vision of consensus,co-governance and shared governance,and discusses how to drive the coordinated development of technology research and innovation of nuclear waste among science,technology and society under the combination of technology content and social background.Finally,it tries to put forward ethical and action suggestions for research and development of nuclear waste governance technology.This study holds that nuclear waste issue places toxic waste and concern for future generations in a long historical frame,which will easily impact the responsibility and result in limited responsibility and moral corruption.How to maintain this long-term responsibility that has an impact on generations of mankind is full of challenges.At present,the technical strategy for the governance and disposal of nuclear waste around the world is mainly geological storage.However,with the decommissioning of nuclear facilities,the radioactive problems caused by this have gradually become prominent.Countries all over the world have accelerated the governance of environmental problems polluted by nuclear activities.At present,there are few ethical evaluations in this regard.This study carries out an ethical analysis of issues including radioactive pollution remediation technology and waste governance from the perspective of responsibility ethics to enrich the research field.It is beneficial for decision-makers and R&D personnel to better understand the ethical considerations behind different technology,promoting the scientific and technological research of nuclear waste governance to a new path of responsible development,which emphasizes the joint creation of knowledge by science and society,designs governance tools based on the common direction of scientific and technological development and ethical governance,and cultivates professional sensitivity of experts and decision-makers to relevant ethical issues and responsibilities through internal and external cooperation of scientific communities.Besides,by promoting exchanges and participation with the public and stakeholders,strengthening confidence in nuclear safety and standardizing the responsibility ethics norms by multi-party coordination of nuclear waste governance,the truly sustainable and effective nuclear waste governance can be realized to make positive contributions to the protection of human survival and environment.