Dear All,
We’re pleased to announce the next session of the SPT maintenance and
philosophy of technology special interest group on Thursday 13th March
(18-1915 UTC +1). In this session, we’re excited to welcome Siegfried Evens
(KU Leuven) who’ll be sharing his research exploring the maintenance of
nuclear power plants. In addition to examining the historical evolution of
power plant maintenance, Siegfried’s talk will also explore questions
surrounding the skill and agency of contemporary repair technicians
themselves and thus promises to make a fascinating and much needed
contribution to our understanding of maintenance in these contexts. If
you'd like a link for the talk, send me an email at mark@markthomasyoung.net
“Aging Atoms: Maintenance in Nuclear Power Plants"
Siegfried Evens (KU Leuven)
Thursday 13th March 2025 (18-1915 UTC +1)
Abstract: In recent years, nuclear power has made a remarkable comeback.
The nuclear industry and many national governments try to market new
reactor designs as a safe, reliable, innovative, and sustainable solution
to making a sustainable energy transition happen. At the same time,
however, many nuclear power plants, including in Sweden, France, Belgium,
the UK, and the US, have been experiencing shutdowns related to breakdowns.
And these maintenance-related breakdowns are expected to continue plaguing
the industry, as the lifetimes of many nuclear power plants are being
extended. It is thus clear that the nuclear industry has reached a crucial
moment: demand for nuclear power is increasing, but the reliability and
safety of reactor operation is unpredictable due to mounting maintenance
issues.
My talk will offer historical perspectives on these maintenance issues and
consists of two parts. In the first part, I will present the findings of my
PhD research. I demonstrate that during the 1950s and 1960s in the US,
France, and Sweden, the regulations for the inspection and maintenance of
steam engines were imposed directly on nuclear reactors. Only by the
late-1960 and 1970s did engineers and policy-makers “nuclearize” these
rules. While these new rules introduced specific requirements for
preventing radioactive contamination, there was a large continuity with the
steam regulations.
In the second part of the talk, I will introduce my upcoming research
project, which explores the maintenance work that goes on in nuclear power
plants and the people who do it. It will particularly focus on the workers'
techniques – types of knowledge on how to use or repair a technology that
are not necessarily written down. I will also focus on the way the risks of
maintenance work – to the workers, but also the risk of insufficient
maintenance to society – are assessed, and how much ‘agency’ or capacity
to
work and act independently workers possess while using their maintenance
techniques. Although scholars who have studied nuclear safety have paid
attention to the organization of maintenance, the workers themselves and
the techniques they use have largely been overlooked.
(In order to avoid confusion regarding the timing of the talks - the
following table clarifies when the talks
begin in different locations) (please note also that due to the difference
between daylight savings in the U.S and Europe, times for North America
only will differ from the previous session)
New York: 13:00
San Francisco: 10:00
London: 17:00
Amsterdam: 18:00
Mark Thomas Young
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Oslo
https://uio.academia.edu/MarkThomasYoung
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