Talk: Aging Atoms: Maintenance in Nuclear Power Plants (Siegfried Evens) Maintenance & Philosophy SIG, Thursday 13th March 2025 (18-1915 UTC+1)
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 EASST's Eurograd mailing list -- eurograd-easst.net@lists.easst.net Archive: https://lists.easst.net/hyperkitty/list/eurograd-easst.net@lists.easst.net/ Edit your delivery settings there using Account dropdown, Mailman settings. Website: https://easst.net/easst_eurograd/ Meet us on Mastodon: https://assemblag.es/@easst Or X: https://twitter.com/STSeasst
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