Technooptimism vs. Realities: The Nuclear Energy Paradox and Narratives

The development of nuclear power has historically been intertwined with narratives of technological progress (von Hippel, Takubo, and Kang 2019). These narratives often carry promises of cost digression, fueling multi-faceted enthusiasm that shape policy and investment such as the Bandwagon Market in the US during the 1960s and 1970s (Cohn 1990). However, the temporal dimension of nuclear energy development reveals a critical tension: while capacity expansion currently is framed as an urgent and immediate necessity (NZN 2024), the management of nuclear waste unfolds over vastly longer timescales. Waste storage remains a slow and complex process, requiring secure containment for millennia—far beyond the political and economic cycles that drive nuclear expansion (Brunnengräber 2019). Consequently, priorities are differently allocated to focus on perceive urgent topics of energy supply all while shifting waste issues to future generations. Also, developers of so-called new reactor types such as SMRs simplify waste issues (Krall, Macfarlane, and Ewing 2022). This paper addresses the mismatch between the optimism of nuclear growth and the long-term realities of waste management. By doing so, it will investigate narratives of nuclear in energy projections and compare them with actual development in order to shed light on the discrepancy between enthusiasm and realities. Secondly, it aims to highlight discrepancy between capacity expansion efforts and efforts for waste management to investigate the potential shift of long-duration responsibilities in favour of more immediate gains.