Nuclear Technology and the Ethics of Worker Radiation Risk

核技术与工人辐射风险道德

• 批准号: 9810611
• 负责人: Kristin Shrader-Frechette
• 金额: $ 22.41万
• 依托单位: University of Notre Dame
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-03-15 至 2003-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9810611&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nuclear; Technology; Ethics; Worker; Radiation

This grant will support a research team, composed of a Swedish physicist (who measures effects of ionizing radiation) and a US philosopher (who investigates ethical issues in technological risk) to examine ethical assumptions and policy consequences of current radiation-protection standards for nuclear workers. The project has 7 objectives: to investigate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) radiation-protection standards, including their ethical underpinnings and policy consequences; to assess the degree to which these IAEA norms presuppose more egalitarian or utilitarian ethics; to clarify the double standard for worker, versus public, exposure to ionizing radiation (worker standards are more lenient); to determine whether nuclear workers are likely to have given free informed consent to higher radiation risks they bear; to investigate workplace standards for free informed consent, as compared to those used in medical ethics; to trace the ethical consequences following from the norms governing worker exposures to ionizing radiation; and to determine the degree to which alternative principles would result in public-policy changes affecting the safety of nuclear workers. Ethical evaluation of radiation-protection standards for nuclear workers will involve seven questions: What are the main IAEA radiation-protection standards, and how do they differ from those for public exposure? Do IAEA radiation norms (based on the Justification, Optimization, and Dose-Limitation Principles) follow mainly utilitarian or egalitarian ethical principles? Which, if either, is more desirable for current society? For nuclear workers? For future generations? What are the ethical and evaluative presuppositions, strengths, and weaknesses of the traditional justification -- the compensating wage differential -- for the double standard for worker, versus public, exposures to ionizing radiation? What ethical conditions for free informed consent ought nuclear employers attempt to implement in the workplace? What are the ethical and evaluative presuppositions, strengths, and weaknesses of current nuclear regulations for worker consent? In addressing these questions, the project team will employ four methods that it has used previously, with successful results: (1) bibliographic research, (ii) assessment of ethical assumptions, (iii) two-stage ethical analysis, and (iv) case studies. After each year of research, a multidisciplinary group of nuclear-energy experts will evaluate project articles. The strengths of the physics-philosophy project team include 4 years of prior collaborative work and different opinions as to the pros and cons of using nuclear technology. Both are widely published scholars. They have had policy-related experience and hold offices in international risk-assessment societies. The potential impacts of the project include increased knowledge in physics, ethics, and economics; greater protection of worker health and safety; fostering excellence in multidisciplinary and international research; transnational cooperation in radiation protection; and improving international education and ethics related to worker safety and nuclear technology.

这笔拨款将支持一个由瑞典物理学家（测量电离辐射的影响）和美国哲学家（研究技术风险中的伦理问题）组成的研究小组，研究当前核工人辐射防护标准的伦理假设和政策后果。该项目有7个目标：调查国际原子能机构（IAEA）辐射防护标准，包括其伦理基础和政策后果；评估原子能机构这些规范在多大程度上预设了更平等主义或功利主义的伦理；澄清工人与公众接触电离辐射的双重标准（工人的标准更为宽松）；确定核工作人员是否有可能对他们承担的更高辐射风险给予自由知情同意；调查自由知情同意的工作场所标准，并将其与医学伦理标准进行比较；追踪工人接触电离辐射的规范所带来的道德后果；并确定备选原则将在多大程度上导致影响核工人安全的公共政策变化。核工作人员辐射防护标准的伦理评估将涉及七个问题：国际原子能机构的主要辐射防护标准是什么？它们与公众暴露的标准有何不同？国际原子能机构的辐射规范（基于论证原则、优化原则和剂量限制原则）是否主要遵循功利主义或平等主义的伦理原则？如果有的话，哪一个更适合当今社会？对核工人来说？为了子孙后代？对于工人和公众暴露于电离辐射的双重标准，传统理由——补偿性工资差异——的伦理和评估前提、优势和弱点是什么？对于自由知情同意，核雇主应该在工作场所尝试实施什么样的道德条件？当前核法规对工人同意的伦理和评估前提、优势和劣势是什么？为了解决这些问题，项目团队将采用以前使用过的四种方法，并取得了成功的结果：(1)书目研究，（ii）伦理假设评估，（iii）两阶段伦理分析，以及（iv）案例研究。每年研究结束后，一个多学科的核能专家小组将对项目文章进行评估。物理-哲学项目团队的优势包括4年的前期合作工作，以及对使用核技术的利弊的不同意见。两人都是著述颇丰的学者。他们具有与政策相关的经验，并在国际风险评估协会任职。该项目的潜在影响包括增加物理学、伦理学和经济学方面的知识；加强对工人健康和安全的保护；促进多学科和国际研究的卓越发展；辐射防护的跨国合作；加强与工人安全和核技术有关的国际教育和道德规范。