Passing this announcement along. Randyn Miller Assistant to the Director Program in Science, Technology, and Society <http://web.mit.edu/sts> at MIT + (617) 253-3452 + [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> + @mitpsts
> Begin forwarded message: > > From: Aditi Verma <[email protected]> > Subject: STS related seminar at NSE this Thursday > Date: May 4, 2015 at 6:03:38 PM EDT > To: <[email protected]> > > Dear Randyn, > > I wanted to let you know about a seminar in my Department (Nuclear Science > and Engineering) this Thursday. The seminar, by Sonja Schmid, is about > nuclear reactor design choices in the Soviet Union (I am copying the details > below). I know Sonja well and I think this will be a fantastic seminar that > would be of interest to the STS community ! > > all the best, > Aditi > > ____ > > Reactor Design: Lessons from the Soviet Experience > > Thursday, May 7, 2015 > 12:00pm 1:30pm > MIT Room 24-213 > 24Cambridge, MA 02142 > <http://maps.google.com/?q=24%20Cambridge,%20MA%2002142> > > <http://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&text=Reactor+Design%3A+Lessons+from+the+Soviet+Experience&dates=20150507T160000Z/20150507T173000Z&location=24%2C+Cambridge%2C+MA+02142> > > <http://lnsp.mit.edu/seminar-list/2015/5/7/reactor-design-lessons-from-the-soviet-experience?format=ical> > Sonja Schmid > Department of Science and Technology in Society > Virginia Tech > > The process of choosing reactor designs is messy and arbitrary, despite the > fact that retroactively, these choices are often presented as rational: the > best, most functional design won out, and the worldwide fleet of light water > reactors arguably proves this point. And yet, in recent discussions of future > nuclear power generation, designers have claimed unprecedented levels of > safety, efficiency, and even elegance for novel types of reactors. In such > debates, the idea of radical, revolutionary innovation clashes with the idea > that only standardization can ensure the reliability of operation (and > ultimately the possibility of effective emergency response) that the nuclear > industry is seeking to implement after the Fukushima disaster. > > This talk will provide a fresh perspective on these contemporary debates by > presenting historical evidence from another era: when Soviet planners in the > 1950s and 1960s tried to come up with a coherent energy policy for the next > decades, they wrestled with similar questions. Was nuclear even a viable > contender in the country’s energy portfolio? Which of the ten or so reactor > designs proposed by Soviet scientists and engineers should they choose and > why? Who would manufacture these complex machines, and at what cost? By > explaining the decisions they ultimately arrived at I will show that > considering the economic, social, and political implications of what might > appear to be “purely technical” matters is worth the effort even today. > > Sonja Schmid is a faculty member in the Department of Science and Technology > in Society at Virginia Tech (National Capital Region). Originally hailing > from the University of Vienna, she earned her PhD from Cornell University and > spent time as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Security > and Cooperation at Stanford, and at the James Martin Institute for > Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey. Her research focuses on the ways > national energy policies, technological choices, and nonproliferation > concerns shape each other. Earlier this year, MIT Press published her book, > "Producing Power," on the development of the civilian nuclear industry in the > Soviet Union, which is based on extensive archival research in Russia and on > interviews with nuclear experts. In her current NSF-supported project, she > investigates the challenges of globalizing nuclear emergency response. > > -- > > Aditi Verma > > Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering > Massachusetts Institute of Technology > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
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