As the world negotiates where to stand on the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, architects and designers are being pulled into a red-hot debate.
Australia is leading an international debate on disarmament, pledging $3.8 million to a body that will help drive worldwide nuclear non-proliferation and force nuclear talks.
As a debate circles around nuclear power, the question for architects is whether to get involved in the building of stations — should they been seen as a necessary evil - or boycotted altogether?
Norman Foster, for one, this month declined to have anything to do with them. Fellow British architect Richard Rogers also recently declined an offer to be involved in designing future power stations in the UK.
“Today’s architects face a dilemma,” the Guardian reported last week. “Should they play a role in making these facilities look more palatable, or decline to get involved on ethical grounds? Even for pro-nuclear architects, these are not the kind of projects that look good in the portfolio, especially when you're pitching to build, say, a nice green low-energy school.”
This week, the joint Australia-Japan International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament warned of a growing threat from atomic weapons as it endeavours to bolster support for a nuclear non-proliferation pact leading up to a 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review.
The commission, which was in part set up by prime minister Kevin Rudd, will help drive Rudd’s plan to promote disarmament to counterbalance Australia’s place as one of the world’s top uranium suppliers.
As the world debates the relevant issues, another is developing around the issue of nuclear power generally. Questions around the need for nuclear power stations, in particular, are being raised. The Guardian newspaper ran a feature article on Sizewell B, “Britain’s newest and best-looking nuclear power station”.
Last month France’s EDF Group staged a £12.5 ($30.6) billion takeover of British Energy, which operates the UK’s eight nuclear power plants. The French company plans to build another four if it gets the government’s blessing. It was EDF that invited Foster and Rogers to be involved in the future. It is now looking for architects to help “think about the effect on the landscape”.
Like it or not, the article read, nuclear days are almost certainly here again thanks to climate change, dwindling oil and gas reserves, and dawdling renewable energy.
The Greens have argued that Rudd and his anti-nuclear commission will have a tough time keeping their hands on their hearts as they shore up the case for a nuclear non-proliferation pact.
"This commission's not going to be successful unless we are able to wind back the civil nuclear power industry because every nuclear power station essentially is just a plutonium factory hooked up to a steam turbine," Greens Senator Scott Ludlum said.
By Kate Gibbs
