Publication details
Too good to be true : Sugarcoating nuclear energy in the Czech national energy strategy
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Energy Research & Social Science |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629620304400 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101865 |
| Keywords | Nuclear energy; Policy planning; Czech republic; Scenario analysis; Critical review; Energy strategy |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Developing new nuclear projects in Europe is harder than ever. Governments still devoted to nuclear energy need to overcome substantial obstacles and justify their decision to other stakeholders as well as to the general public. In the Czech Republic, one of the last strongholds of nuclear energy in Europe, a pro-nuclear energy policy is often presented as the result of “rational evaluation of all alternatives”. Such an argument typically refers to the country’s national energy plan, which concludes that more nuclear energy is what the country needs. In this perspective, we critically examine the scenario analysis and the calculations featured in this plan. We argue that it was not intended to serve the usual purpose of collecting, categorizing, and evaluating information relevant for the decision-making situation, but to confirm the policy-makers’ pre-existing belief that nuclear energy is a desirable way forward. In a wider sense, this perspective illustrates how path-dependencies affect not only decision-making practices but also the production of background materials which feed into these practices. Finally, this perspective intends to appeal to policy-makers to do a better job in substantiating their decisions. |