Abstract
Energy supply and use play vital roles in transition towards a sustainable society. Nuclear energy is used or planned to be used in 40 countries globally, yet the contribution of nuclear energy to sustainable development remains an area of contention. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand the framing of sustainability within national energy strategies of countries pursuing or planning to start nuclear energy production. The strategies were analyzed by assessing the occurrence of 56 facets of sustainability grouped into 7 dimensions. In addition, the definitions of sustainability used in the strategies and the information on consultation and public participation in their preparation was reviewed. Most strategies mentioned sustainability but did not provide its explicit definition. Risk, waste management and social aspects of sustainability were mentioned relatively less frequently than to environmental, governance and economic aspects of sustainability. The information on consultation and public participation portrayed a limited extent of such processes.
1. Introduction
Following the Brundtland commission’s definition of sustainable development [1], the global energy demands of the current generation should be satisfied without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their energy needs. Yet, projections suggest that the aggregate global energy demand will increase by approximately 37% between 2014 and 2050 [2], with energy being identified as one of the key sustainability challenges of the 21st century [3]. At the national level, countries use diverse energy strategies to tackle this challenge, often claiming sustainable energy transitions to be their main motivation. However, multiple aspects of energy governance [4] intersect with the normative goals of sustainability and “clearly defined facets of sustainability” for assessing energy policy are lacking [5]. Hence, different governments can appraise the same energy sources very differently (from a sustainability perspective). For example, nuclear energy is considered a sustainable option in South Korea [6], but is excluded from sustainable energy strategies [7] in countries like Denmark [8] or Austria [9].
5. Conclusions
Policy documents like the analyzed energy strategies can play a pivotal role as input for decision-making and implementation of measures within energy policy. Here, a document analysis has identified the extentto which, different dimensions of sustainability are mentioned within such policy documents. Our analyses of energy strategies of nine nuclear countries revealed a lack of explicit definitions of sustainability in relation to energy polices. In turn these energy strategies showed a focused perspective that underrepresented some facets of sustainability, such as issues within the social and risk sustainability dimensions. Further research is required on the involvement of multiple ministries and societal actors in building energy strategies, and the perspectives that they bring, may help to ensure the need for a sustainability definition in order to avoid misunderstandings, understand priorities and counteract trade-offs.
