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We invite junior and senior scholars from all disciplines to submit an abstract to our proposed session titled “Atomic Rivers” for the 12th conference of the European Society for Environmental History (ESEH), to be held at the University of Bern, 22-26 August 2023. For further information about the conference, see https://www.eseh2023.unibe.ch/
Atomic Rivers
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Alicia Gutting & Per Högselius, 3012
Session Conveners: Alicia Gutting and Per Högselius (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm)
Format: Paper Session
Submission Deadline: 20 October 2023
Atomic Rivers
In the summers of 2003, 2018 and 2022, nuclear power plant operators across continental Europe were repeatedly forced to fully or partly shut down many of their reactors. The reason was that the water levels in large rivers such as the Rhine and the Rhône were too low to provide sufficient cooling water or, more commonly, that the temperature of the cooling water that was returned to the rivers exceeded official limits in environmental regulations. These “nuclear heatwaves” of the past two decades coincide with a (metaphorically) heated debate on climate change and the role of nuclear energy in fighting climate change. Nuclear energy advocates query that governments in Europe are not paying enough attention to the contribution of nuclear energy to combating climate change. The opponents, meanwhile, argue that nuclear energy is as risky as it has always been, and that a warming world makes nuclear energy, especially when the plants are located on one or the other river, even more dangerous and more prone to unplanned disruptions in their regular operation.
The purpose of this proposed conference session is to explore the historical underpinnings of the current crisis – and the debate about it – for riverine nuclear energy in Europe. We are looking for submissions that touch on the following topics:
- Floods, droughts and heatwaves as threats to the safety and operation of nuclear power plants
- Problems and conflicts over the supply of cooling water from rivers
- Radioactive and thermal pollution from riverine nuclear power plants
- Historical and present-day debates about siting of nuclear facilities along rivers
- Negotiations about environmental regulations regarding cooling water discharges
- Technical fixes to cooling water problems, such as cooling towers and cooling ponds
- The emergence and evolution of riverine nuclear landscapes
- The relationship between nuclear energy, hydropower, irrigation and fisheries in European river basins
Please send an abstract (200-300 words) by 20 October 2023 to gutting@kth.se and perho@kth.se
With best wishes,
Alicia Gutting and Per Högselius
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