Ahearne J F
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
Risk Anal. 2000 Dec;20(6):763-70. doi: 10.1111/0272-4332.206070.
Nuclear power, nuclear waste, and nuclear weapons raise substantial public concern in many countries. While new support for nuclear power can be found in arguments concerning greenhouse gases and global warming, the long-term existence of radioactive waste has led to requirements for 10,000-year isolation. Some of the support for such requirements is based on intergenerational equity arguments. This, however, places a very high value on lives far in the future. An alternative is to use discounting, as is applied to other resource applications. Nuclear weapons, even though being dismantled by the major nations, are growing in number due to the increase in the number of countries possessing these weapons of mass destruction. This is an unfortunate legacy for future generations.
核能、核废料和核武器在许多国家引起了公众的广泛关注。虽然在有关温室气体和全球变暖的争论中可以找到对核能的新支持，但放射性废料的长期存在导致了对长达一万年隔离的要求。对这些要求的一些支持是基于代际公平的论点。然而，这赋予了遥远未来的生命极高的价值。另一种选择是采用贴现，就像应用于其他资源应用一样。核武器尽管主要国家正在进行拆除，但由于拥有这些大规模杀伤性武器的国家数量增加，其数量仍在增长。这对后代来说是一个不幸的遗留问题。
