Can There Be a Consensus on Nuclear Power?

Abstract

This paper examines the sources of opposition to nuclear power, and the counter-arguments of nuclear advocates, setting the debate in the wider context of concerns about the impact of technological developments in general. A review of the specific arguments leads to the conclusion that the objections of those opposed to nuclear power are 'legitimate' and 'rational'. Differences of value underlying the debate are then discussed, and the prospects of consensus are assessed in the light of alternative views of the role of technology in social change, and of the nature of social decision-making.