Anglo-French Collaboration in the Nuclear Sector: The Human, Social and Ethical Dimensions. Graduate seminar, Maison Francaise d'Oxford, Monday 15 May 2017

A graduate workshop was held on Monday 15 May, at the Maison francaise d'Oxford, involving a little group of graduate students, from the UK and France. They were invited to present their research and to engage in discussions over the place of nuclear energy in the context of the social sciences and humanities. Wider issues of relevance and interest regarding nuclear energy - such as its human, cultural and philosophical dimensions - have not received sufficient attention in either France or Britain. A number of specific areas were identified to be significant in this respect: - The need for clearer, 'unbiased' information, explanations and better understanding of the wider human dimensions associated with nuclear energy. - A better understanding of the influences upon, and differences in social attitudes towards nuclear in France and Britain. - The factors influencing varying attitudes within Britain and France amongst different sections of society. Particular references were made to the younger age groups and gender differences. - And understanding of 'changes' of attitude and support found in Britain and France, in more recent times. - The importance of the community, social, cultural, ethical and human dimensions given the unique nature of the nuclear sector, and in particular the long term nature and scale of economic and social investments associated with nuclear energy. - The impact of perceptions about the nuclear risk factors that may, or may not, be very different to reality over time. - The global nature of the impact of the sector on Anglo-French interests and the opportunities for positive collaboration, and learning in the wider human, social, ethical, cultural and philosophical aspects. - The multitude of social media channels available for disseminating information and opinions that influence social attitudes about nuclear energy. - A lack of trust in policy or operational statements emanating from the government, company or organisation directly engaged in the sector. This document brings together the abstracts of the presentations given at this seminar, as well as a synthesis in French for the French Society of Nuclear Energy (SFEN). List of presentations: 1 - Global warming and nuclear future (Denoun, Martin); 2 - Governing the energy policy: the pursuit of nuclear energy through the 'energy transition' notion in France (Tsuchiya, Miyuki); 3 - What can we learn from decentralized energy systems in France? (Degremont-Dorville, Marie); 4 - Energy consumption behaviours in France: patterns and main trends (Bouillet, Jeremy); 5 - National social and economic effects of the European framework (Deront, Eva); 6 - The great nuclear divergence: how France overtook Britain in the civil nuclear stage (Kim, Tae-Hoon); 7 - Importance of risk perception and its impacts in the nuclear industry (Kobylka, Krzysztof; Nithesh, Antony); 8 - Nuclear risk perception among the French civil society (Defard, Camille; Giachetti, Charles; Nivole, Audrey); 9 - Framing nuclear power: how the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster has become understood as an issue of class, gender and geography (Takahashi, Makoto); 10 - Framing the regional socio-economic impacts of nuclear power plant decommissioning: structural underpinnings and empirical displays of territorial resilience (Pini, Paul-Etienne); 11 - Manufacture and Construction of Small Modular Reactors (Lloyd, Clara)