The ''state of the art in science'' examined as a concept of law from the angle of epistemology, with the example of the principle of averting danger, as defined in the emission control law and in the atomic energy law

The term ''state of the art in science'' is the essential element guaranteeing the legally required measures for averting danger during specified normal operation and in case of an accident, as defined in the Atomic Energy Act and in the Federal Emission Control Act. The literature, jurisdiction, and the licensing practice are not unanimous in the interpretation of the content of this term ''state of the art in science'', its function in the licensing procedure, and its distinctions as compared to the term ''state of the art in technology''. The book in hand sets out to provide answers. The term state of the art in science appears at different places in the Atomic Energy Act (AtG) or the Federal Emission Control Act (BImSchG), and in different factual contexts. Reference to the measures for averting danger offers the possibility of gearing to a specific context of this term and thus to discuss the term in a selected context. The principle of averting danger therefore offers the factual frame for an epistemological examination of the term ''state of the art in science''. Other than the Federal Constitutional Court in its Kalkar reactor judgment, the author's opinion is that the limits of the human capacity of knowledge are not due to theoretical capacities, but rather to practical. The aquired knowledge thus lags behind the knowledge achievable from the angle of epidemology. The remaining uncertainty in the author's theory thus is larger than that assumed in the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court. The limits of the human capacity of knowledge, the author says, cannot be regarded to likewise set the same limits to the principle or instrument of averting danger. The limits of averting danger are a result of the administrative capacities. (orig.)