It is most important that the situation whereby the opponents of nuclear energy seem to have the sole rights on moral arguments be changed to add a moral dimension to the case for nuclear energy.
Dr Dietmar Kuhnt, director, legal department, Rhenisches-Westfälisches Electrizitätswerk AG, speaking to the Third International Symposium on Uranium Supply & Demand, 1978
The debate so far has suffered in that the opponents have regularly drawn on moral and ethical arguments, while supporters have mainly argued the economic necessity of using nuclear energy. Even though this line of argument is very important and cannot be put aside, it has to be extended. In reality, the supporters of nuclear energy have numerous moral arguments to back their case.
It is the duty of our generation to hand over to the coming generations a viable economic system as the basis for their existence and to safeguard in particular the world’s coal resources as a valuable raw material for manufacturing processes. The use of nuclear energy for the benefit of future generations is an important moral argument because the opponents of nuclear energy constantly argue that used fuel elements have to be stored for centuries and that this represents an unacceptable burden for future generations.
