Risk Analysis Virtual Issue Nuclear Power, Weapons and Waste
Risk Analysis Virtual Issue Nuclear Power, Weapons and Waste Management: A 40-year Retrospective Edited by Michael Greenberg, Joanna Burger, and Karen Lowrie Introduction Our aim with this virtual issue is to provide a compendium of papers that examines the range of risks and benefits of nuclear power, weapons production, waste management, and associated human dimensions of these risks and benefits to society and individuals. Papers cover topics such as the siting of weapons plants and power plants, commercial power production, nuclear wastes, management of stockpiles, repositories, potential accidents, and environmental justice, especially for Native Americans and people of color. These issues have engaged a wide range of social, physical, and biological scientists, as well as managers and regulators interested in risk. Below we first provide a brief history of nuclear power, weapons production, and waste management. We then present papers selected from the 40-year history of Risk Analysis, divided into four parts representing the past four decades. Under each of these, we provide a brief overview of the major issues and summarize the selected papers within the era. Our comments are meant to introduce the papers, which themselves address the key issues and concerns. The four historical periods are: 1. 1981-1990: Scrutiny of commercial nuclear power technology, siting and public perception. 2. 1991-2000: Nuclear waste management, Yucca and WIPP 3. 2001-2010: Terrorism, equity challenges, and ambiguity about nuclear power 4. 2011-2020: Climate change, underground repositories, and nuclear power post- Fukushima Brief Historical Context On August 6 and August 9, 1945, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to hasten the end of the Second World War.
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