Social License in the Deployment of Advanced Nuclear Technology

The deployment of advanced nuclear technologies is anticipated to be part of the actions required to mitigate global climate change. The successful deployment of these new technologies, like all new infrastructure projects, will be more successful if the projects have strong public support. Successful deployment of energy infrastructure correlates with thoughtful approaches to equitable energy transitions. This work recalls the history of recent energy infrastructure deployments, shows where the inclusion of social scientists has improved the possibility of success and proposes specific steps to make future deployments of advanced nuclear technologies successful.

Automated summary

The deployment of advanced nuclear technologies is expected to help mitigate global climate change, with successful projects requiring public support and thoughtful approaches to equitable energy transitions. Involving social scientists can improve the likelihood of success in energy infrastructure deployments.