Journal articles on the topic 'Nuclear energy – Political aspects – Sweden'

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse and problematize the relations between international forestry companies and wood energy in the context of climate change in Chile and Sweden. Design/methodology/approach Based on interviews, field observations and analysis of documents, case studies of international forestry companies and wood energy in local areas of Chile and Sweden are examined comparatively. A conceptual framework combining political ecology and environmental communication is developed to approach the cases. Findings The paper finds that the two international forestry companies studied here have widely incorporated the use of wood energy as a renewable and carbon neutral energy strategy for their forestry business. Second, the paper finds that wood energy is used as a way to reproduce forestry development in the two countries, which is contested by NGOs and activists which are today articulating critical approaches to forestry development in the two countries. Third, related to the former finding, the paper finds that the incorporation of wood energy into the forest sector’s interests in Chile and Sweden takes place in the context of important social-ecological conflicts related to industrial forestry development. Originality/value The paper’s analytical framework helps to analyse the social-ecological nature of international business and the way they organise material practices and communicative meaning around renewable energy. The paper’s findings and analysis shed light on important problematic aspects of the material and symbolic struggles around renewable energy in the context of climate change. The comparative dimension of the analysis has the value to offer a cross-border analysis to improve the understanding of some of the most important aspects of international businesses concerning wood energy today.

In the present paper, we discuss various aspects of the SKB Task Force on Modeling of Groundwater Flow and Transport of Solutes (TFGWFTS). The TFGWTS is a multi-lateral forum for modeling of groundwater flow and solute transport, focusing on issues of relevance for disposal of nuclear waste. We discuss the objectives and set-up of the different tasks performed during the last 30 years, and specifically how the results of the modeling have informed performance and safety assessment applications within SKB (Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, Solna, Sweden). We conclude that the TFGWFTS has been instrumental in developing modeling methodologies and tools, and in training and fostering modelers. While the early tasks were related to the construction of the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in Sweden and developed general modeling competence, the later tasks have served performance and safety assessment purposes in a more substantial manner.

The aim of this study is to assess how different renovation scenarios affect the environmental and economic impacts of a multi-dwelling building in a Nordic climate, how these aspects are correlated and how different energy carriers affect different environmental impact categories. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union has set an agenda in order to reduce energy use in buildings. New buildings on the European market have a low replacement rate, which makes building renovation an important factor for achieving the European Union goals. In this study, eight renovation strategies were analyzed following the European Committee for Standardization standards for life cycle assessment and life cycle costs of buildings. This study covers all life cycle steps from cradle to grave. The renovation scenarios include combinations of photovoltaics, geothermal heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation and improved building envelopes. Results show that, depending on the energy carrier, reductions in global warming potential can be achieved at the expense of an increased nuclear waste disposal. It also shows that for the investigated renovation strategies in Sweden there is no correlation between the economic and the environmental performance of the building. Changing energy carriers in Sweden in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be a good alternative, but it makes the system more dependent on nuclear power.

The prospects of the Russian nuclear power industry depend on many factors, including economic, technological, political, social, and other aspects of the development of the global energy market. To increase the competitiveness of the Russian nuclear power industry, it is necessary to strengthen the existing advantages of Rosatom State Corporation, as well as state support for programs aimed at the development of nuclear technologies, both in the energy sector and in other sectors of the economy, including healthcare. The issues of developing international cooperation are particularly relevant when realizing the export potential of Russian nuclear energy.

The economic characteristics of nuclear power, with high investment cost and fuel costs lower than conventional fuels, make it possible to achieve low electricity prices when reactors supply marginal electricity. The support for nuclear power by the Swedish electricity consuming industry may be understood as efforts to create and defend a situation of over-capacity in the electricity production sector rather than as support for nuclear power as such. Politically the external costs of routine emissions of radioactive materials are difficult to internalise because they, like carbon dioxide, have global long-term effects. However, like the air pollutants already regulated, costs of reactor accidents, as well as the motives for taking on management costs of nuclear waste, are regional and within a generation in time. The market evaluation of accident risks has been deliberately destroyed by legislation set to favour nuclear power reactors. Societal economic rationality may be successfully applied in the energy sector. This paper describes how climate change risks were internalised in Sweden using carbon taxes under favourable political conditions. The resulting development of biofuels was surprisingly successful, indicating a potential for further modernisation of the energy supply system. Possible ways to restore the nuclear risk market in order to internalise nuclear reactor accident risks and waste costs by legislation are described. This may be done without the difficult quantification of environmental costs. Appropriate legislation may internalise the cost while creating conditions for market evaluation of these uncertain costs.

AbstractMost research on Fukushima has been directed at technical and epidemiological aspects; yet the ways in which emerging nuclear powers such as India have responded to the meltdown is inadequate. This article investigates (1) the Fukushima meltdown as an epitome of risk associated with nuclear energy to understand what role this disaster has played in the Indian nuclear energy policy; and (2) whether the Indian nuclear authority has renewed its effort to shape the public mind in favor of nuclear safety in the wake of a deadly nuclear disaster in Fukushima. I use content analysis of statements made by nuclear personnel in response to the Fukushima meltdown from newspaper articles published in five major English-language newspapers in India. The findings suggest that the Fukushima meltdown has little impact on India’s nuclear energy policy. Instead, the Indian nuclear authority uses language to shape the public opinion surrounding nuclear energy.

The article attempts to develop a system of parameters for an objective and comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of the nuclear power industry in terms of its contribution to the country’s economic and social development, as well as its environmental well-being and its geopolitical position. Currently, nuclear power industry makes up a significant part of the energy supplies in the developed countries throughout the world. However, in the developing economies, including those of East and Southeast Asia, it plays a less prominent role. Nevertheless, in recent years, China has been the leader in commissioning new atomic facilities, thanks to the consistent implementation of its state program for the development of the nuclear power industry. Forecasts indicate that in the near future, the share of atomic energy will remain stable and account for about 10 % of all global energy capacity, which is confirmed by the estimates made during the study. However, in the long term nuclear energy cannot be ignored as an economically efficient and environmentally friendly source of energy, as well as a factor in improving the quality of life of the population when developing a strategy for the sustainable development of a country. The article examines the already existing assessment criteria for the economic efficiency of nuclear power plants (NPPs), and proposes new standards for the assessment of its contribution to the development of the community and a country’s stance on the global political stage. The article also identifies the main obstacles to the further development of the industry in the modern world. The research showed that the main specific feature of an NPP operation from the economic point of view is extremely high initial construction and commissioning costs, with relatively low further operation costs, which determines long payback lines and liquidity shortages reducing the attractiveness of such projects for potential investors. These peculiarities determine the leading role of state authorities in the launch, operation and modernization of nuclear power facilities.

Germany announced on 30 May 2011 that it will shut down all of its 17 nuclear power stations by 2022 (8 of them immediately, the others step by step), which makes Germany become the first developed country in the world that totally give up the nuclear power and fulfill the change of energy structure after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. The paper analyses the political, economic, social and technical aspects of this decision and its consequences for Germany and its possible impact worldwide.

The present paper is a narrative review focused on a few important aspects and moments of trends surrounding materials and methods in sustainable nuclear energy, as an expression of applied chemistry support for more efficiency and safety. In such context, the paper is focused firstly on increasing alloy performance by modifying compositions, and elaborating and testing novel coatings on Zr alloys and stainless steel. For future generation reactor systems, the paper proposes high entropy alloys presenting their composition selection and irradiation damage. Nowadays, when great uncertainties and complex social, environmental, and political factors influence energy type selection, any challenge in this field is based on the concept of increased security and materials performance leading to more investigations into applied science.

Abstract Recently, there have been international debates over the idea of labeling nuclear power plants as a green investment. To be considered sustainable, to get a green investment label and to contribute to green growth, nuclear energy should be based on clear plans regarding safe disposal of radioactive waste. Final disposal of radioactive waste is witness to many disputes, one of the most important being that of public acceptance. Society represents a critical and a decisive stage in the process of radioactive waste management. Management and disposal process of radioactive waste requires community confidence and acceptance. The socio-political context must be addressed continuously through stakeholder commitment and public concerns. The final stage of radioactive waste management is especially characterized by population involvement, stakeholder availability, and mutual dialog. The objective of this study is based on finding the relationship between the location of a radioactive waste disposal facility (RWDF) and the perception of the population regarding various aspects related to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. A series of questions in the form of a questionnaire were used for data collection. A total of 200 valid questionnaires were used for this analysis. The study was focused on the Romanian population following a homogenous distribution throughout the country. Therefore, to better understand the issue, the paper investigates the correlation between the location of a radioactive waste disposal facility and a variety of factors, such as: attitude, perceived benefits, perceived risks, overall knowledge and perceived costs. Spearman rank correlation was used for data analysis. Bringing together theoretical information about nuclear energy and radioactive waste and the empirical data collected at the national level, this research study showed that the acceptance of a radioactive waste disposal facility is much stronger if the population is in favor of nuclear energy. As well, perceived risks create major concerns throughout the population and influence the location of a radioactive waste disposal facility. Cost aspects are controversial and create disagreements in relation with radioactive waste management options. That being said, this study brings value to the nuclear field by emphasizing the important societal factors which influence the location of a radioactive waste disposal facility in the green energy era.

Abstract. European integration with its common markets for coal and nuclear fuels and, nowadays, ambitions of a comprehensive energy policy makes Europe one of the most interesting regions with regard to energy security. However, not only the European Union (EU) but also the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are or will be relevant actors in the global struggle for affordable, sustainable, and sufficient supplies of energy. All three have developed more or less distinctive instruments to secure their members access to energy. Nevertheless, there are three problems that prohibit the Europeans from being important players in global energy politics. First, the EU Member States do not have sufficient indigenous reserves of energy and thus are dependent on foreign suppliers. Second, Europe and its partners lack, as of yet, a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the external aspects of energy politics, including supply security as well as the political and economic challenges of import dependency and energy cut-offs. Third, only if inner-EU coherence can be established – and later on, regional and global energy governance – will the problem of energy security be resolvable. Finally, a coherent, internal EU position will be necessary to establish regional and global energy governance – the key to stabilizing future energy relations.

Abstract This paper presents the analysis of the Hungarian nuclear expansion controversy using a conceptual framework that links strategic maneuvering with an extended polylogical controversy and evaluates the strategic maneuvering of political, environmentalist and expert actors. The paper aims to show that the three aspects of strategic maneuvering (audience demand, topical potential, presentational devices) are flexible enough that they can be analyzed when the object of study is not a spatially and temporally localized argumentative situation, but a decade-long debate with multiple actors. In 2014, Hungary signed a deal with Russia to finance 80% of the investment costs and supply two new reactors to maintain the 40–50% of nuclear energy in the national energy production.

Due to anticipated energy shortages and the need to achieve climate goals, there is an urgent requirement for transition towards a green, resilient system of energy provision. This transition is hampered because important players in energy markets (governments and oligopolies), while supporting large-scale solutions, avoid or block systemic changes. This rejection of systemic change is strengthened by the dominant social paradigm, which ignores systemic vulnerabilities, treating resources as solutions and the environment as a sink. In its turn, the dominant social paradigm is contested by the new ecological paradigm and by attitudes towards sustainable business practices. Understanding this framework may be relevant for identifying decision-makers’ perception of system risk, and thus for supporting a transition towards a more decentralized and resilient energy supply. In this context, this paper presents an empirical study among Polish students of a business university (N = 393), trying to discover the relationship between the social paradigms, perceptions of environmental resources and sinks, and systemic risk in large-scale energy production (i.e., nuclear power plants). Although the explained variance is limited, results show that various elements of the dominant social paradigm are related to problem denial. Technological optimism and belief in markets are predictors of optimism about resource shortages and neglect of system risk. This optimism is counteracted by political liberalism, and respondent attitudes towards sustainable business practices. Belief in market forces has an ambivalent effect, tempering technological optimism regarding nuclear energy but also political acknowledgement of the limited resources and sink capacities of the environment. Although the influence of the dominant social paradigm on energy transition can be identified, the results may indicate a decline in belief in market forces and liberal democracy, implying a rethinking of the dominant social paradigm may be needed. The existing relationship between these aspects warrants a critical review and discussion of the central role of the dominant paradigm in current management training. The results indicate that a lack of political liberalism and a negative attitude towards sustainable business practices amplify system risks in, e.g., large-scale nuclear energy projects.

Abstract. Since 2013 the site search for a repository for highly radioactive waste has been taking place in Germany within the framework of a new governance architecture and under new political guidelines. Based on experiences with nuclear politics in the past, Jungk (1977) coined the term hard nuclear state, characterized by decisions made in a top-down manner. The Decide-Announce-Defend (DAD) strategy, which branded the nuclear state at that time, led to conflicts, mistrust of authorities and blockages. In particular, massive resistance developed against the planned final repository site at Gorleben. Nowadays, after more than 60 years deploying nuclear energy, the (energy) political balance of power has fundamentally changed. Parts of the anti-nuclear movement have been integrated into the political party system and have contributed significantly to the nuclear phase-out. In the course of this, the unfinished task of final disposal has been readdressed: with the Repository Site Selection Act (StandAG, 2017), which was passed in 2013 and amended in 2017, an ongoing process of public participation is stated. The site selection process is required to be learning, self-questioning, science-based, reversible, and participatory. The StandAG § 5 not only provides a basis for a fundamental dialogue between the regulator, the operator, and the public, but also for „co-design“ by common citizens. The StandAG considers various elements from different participation-friendly theories of democracy as well as specific governance concepts, which we refer to collectively as the soft nuclear repository state (cf. Brunnengräber, 2021). Its characteristics need to be worked out, as the StandAG only provides some indications, but no criteria, for what good and sufficient participation in the site selection process means and what its conditions for success should be. Based on preliminary considerations on democratic theory and governance aspects (part 1), we present what good participation could mean in the current procedure and what the framework conditions for good participation could be (part 2). Additionally, we present main findings from participatory observations from the ongoing site search process and identify conditions and indications of a successful future participation process based on the ongoing process (part 3). In the résumé, we turn to the question of which of the democracy-theoretical elements of the soft repository state are already recognizable in the present procedure, but also whether the current procedure provides additional indications towards the soft nuclear repository state (part 4).

The paper presents the investigation of the impact of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) shutdown on Lithuanian energy security. The system of energy security indicators, covering technical, economic and socio-political aspects is presented. The integral characteristic of these indicators shows the level of energy security. The paper analyses the Lithuanian energy security level in 2007. To make a comparison, the energy security level in 2010, after the shutdown of Ignalina NPP, when Lithuanian Power Plant in Elektrėnai becomes the main electricity producer, is forecasted. Two alternatives are analysed: Lithuanian Power Plant uses either gas or heavy fuel oil for electricity production. The security level of each indicator, each indicator block and the total security level are presented as the result. Energy security indicators, which increased or decreased after the shutdown of Ignalina NPP, are analysed, including the indicators which have had the greatest impact on the change in energy security level. The influence of Ignalina NPP shutdown on CO2 emissions is presented. Also, electricity generating costs for different types of electricity production at a different discount rate are presented.

Nuclear waste management is a contested challenge that lasts for decades. Especially in Germany, the history of the usage of nuclear energy is conflictive and notions of justice are therefore omnipresent in the ongoing site selection process for a nuclear waste repository. Against the background of injustices caused by the deployment of nuclear energy, such as the obligation for current generations to deal with nuclear waste, questions of how to justly deal with nuclear waste and to find a just repository site arise. By conducting a survey among people that participate in the site selection process as well as people living in or representing an area that is still considered suitable, the assessment of different aspects of justice was evaluated. The role of a science-informed site decision without any political bias is considered highly important for a just site selection. Distributional aspects, such as notions of utilitarianism, retribution, or the exemption of environmentally burdened regions are generally not approved but more detailed questions have shown that such notions cannot be dismissed at this early stage of the site selection process. The difference for general agreement can also be observed for intergenerational recognition, as the recognition of future generations is regarded as necessary, but concrete implications (retrievability or enclosure) are assessed ambiguously. Although some factors of justice are assessed more importantly than others, the analysis has shown that the interrelations between the different dimensions of justice are manifold and the argument that one dimension can be substituted for another one is too reductive.

Nowadays, for science as a type of activity and a socio-cultural institution, the question of the boundaries of its own agency is extremely relevant. Various global challenges (energy, climate, pandemics, security, etc.) are in tune with the challenges for the very concept of science, for its norms and values. In a discussion article, V.N. Porus and V.A. Bazhanov discuss aspects of the political agency of post-normal science (J. Ravetz, S. Funtowicz) — a type of science that claims to go beyond normal science (T. Kuhn) as a process simple and definite solution of problems within the framework of the prevailing paradigms. This article discusses aspects of the political subjectivity of science in the language of locations, the most important of which is the laboratory, understood in broad socio-cultural and socio-epistemic aspects. With the involvement of historical and scientific (atomic-nuclear problem) and modern situational cases (COVID-19), the problems of the relationship between “scientific” and “political” in the location of the expanded laboratory are considered. In the extended laboratory, the situational realization of the political agency of science is carried out. It is emphasized that science has not yet acquired the status of an independent and full-fledged political agency, and the corresponding institutionalization. The political agency of science is specific and episodic. Loaded with complexity and uncertainty modernity is considered by a number of authors at the present time as a post-normal times. It is noted that in the light of the post-normal nature of modernity while striving for political subjectivity, science (at the level of a multitude of participating actors) should not change its “personal ontology” (responsibility for the truth), which is difficult to achieve without an appeal to the virtue of wisdom.

Energy secuity is often classified as necesary to human security becuase of the importance of tts services for both modern economies and post-modern lifestyle as it relates to dialogue about energy issues as well as climate change. The paper aims to provide assessment and consideration of key aspects relating to energy security by providing comperehnsie definitions, highlights on key characteristics, underlying values and components of each of dofferent key dimentions of energy secuirty, as well as key contributions to economic developments. The paper is primarly based on reviewing the avilable leturature in the field as well as inclusion of key profesisonal and academic publications to enhance application and inclusion of key trends in the field as well as policies. The research concludes to establish that energy security has evolved as a result of the transformation of the world’s energy regime in terms of the growing dominace of non-renewable fossil fuels and increasing reliance on oil, the 1970s economic crisis and liberalisation of energy markets, development of nuclear energy, fluctuating fortunes for coal and gas, escalating energy demands of developing nations, and the impacts of political instability and large-scale natural events and the energy regime of the 21st century.

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is rapidly increasing because NPPs are not only no longer profitable in many cases but are also being decommissioned due to a lack of public acceptance or political reasons in many countries, particularly in Europe, following the explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. Accordingly, a significant body of research has focused on achieving safe, environmentally sound, and sustainable decommissioning in many countries where there is demand for NPP decommissioning. In order to achieve sustainable decommissioning that restores the NPP site to its pre-NPP environmental state, it is necessary to understand the safety, technology, and cost aspects as well as having the process and strategy to systematically promote them. Although there are a limited number of countries with experience and knowledge in the management of decommissioning multiple NPPs, researchers in countries just starting NPP decommissioning need diverse research information on how to formulate a sustainable decommissioning strategy as well as related factors. In particular, a systematic review of decommissioning strategies, such as DD, ID, and ET, and the influencing factors associated with each strategy is needed from the researcher’s point of view. In this regard, this study reviews the research literature on decommissioning strategies for nuclear power plants with a sustainable perspective. A systematic method involving a meta-analysis is used. The results of this study confirm that many researchers are most interested in DD and are dealing with ID and ET at the same level, but in reality, DD and ID are being adopted at similar rates. Thus far, only three ETs have been adopted in the United States. Most countries that have adopted ID are deemed to have been influenced by political decisions.

AbstractThe use of ionizing radiation and radioactive materials continues to increase worldwide in industry, medicine, agriculture, research, electrical power generation, and nuclear weaponry. The risk of terrorism using weapons of mass destruction or simple radiological devices also has increased, leading to heightened concerns. Radiation accidents occur as a consequence of errors in transportation ofradionuclides, use of radiation in medical diagnosis and therapy, industrial monitoring and sterilization procedures, and rarely, nuclear power generation. Compared to other industries, a small number of serious radiation accidents have occurred over the last six decades with recent cases in the Republic of Georgia, Peru, Japan, and Thailand. The medical, psychological, and political consequences of such accidents can be considerable. A number of programs designed to train medical responders in the techniques of radiation accident management have been developed and delivered in many countries. The low frequency of serious radiation accidents requires constant re-training, as skills are lost and medical staff turnover occurs. Not all of the training involves drills or exercises in which responders demonstrate learning or communication over the broad spectrum of medical response capabilities. Medical preparedness within the context of a total emergency response program is lacking in many parts of the world, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States. This paper describes an effort to enhance medical preparedness in the context of a total program of international cooperation and conventions facilitated by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The paper concludes that novel application of telecommunications technology as part of a training activity in radiation accident preparedness can help address gaps in training in this field in which preparedness is essential but experience and practical field exercises are lacking.

The article is devoted to the large—circulation newspaper "Soviet Physicist" (now — "Kurchatov") of the I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (now - SIC "Kurchatov Institute"). Having your own newspaper in a secret scientific institution is a special phenomenon. For a long time, it was printed with a note about the prohibition of removal from the territory. The newspaper was distributed only to employees. Based on archival materials of the SIC "Kurchatov Institute" and the Central State Administration of Moscow, the history of the newspaper is traced from its inception in 1967 to its renaming in 1992. The multi-circulation newspaper was created on the initiative of the Institute's staff. The general management of it was carried out by the party committee and the local committee of the institute. The pages of the "Soviet Physicist" reflect the life of the "Kurchatov" community in all its diversity. The article introduces a new historical source into scientific circulation and examines its informational potential for research on the history of the Soviet atomic project in general, as well as the main aspects of the life of the Institute's staff community in particular. The newspaper's materials are valuable for the study of social, cultural, political and scientific events and phenomena in the history of the I. V. Kurchatov Institute – the leading Soviet scientific center for nuclear physics.

Постановка задачи. Семантико-когнитивный метод анализа языка как способ исследования концептов представляет интерес, поскольку позволяет выявить когнитивные признаки концепта на широком и репрезентативном материале. В настоящем исследовании заявленный метод представлен в части, касающейся анализа лексикографических данных и когнитивной интерпретации контекстов употребления лексем номинативного поля Atomkraft в немецком языке. Целью статьи является установление когнитивных признаков лексем номинативного поля Atomkraft , кодифицированных в словарях и выявляемых в ходе анализа корпуса текстов публикаций в СМИ и блогах в период с 1980 по 2014 гг., для последующего построения полевой модели концепта. Особый интерес представляет влияние произошедших в данный период техногенных катастроф в секторе ядерной энергетики (ЯЭ) на частотность употребления и семантику обозначенных лексических единиц. Результаты. На основании анализа словарных статей, а также привлечения репрезентативного корпуса текстов устанавливается, что доминантным когнитивным признаком концепта является «отказ от ядерной энергетики», наиболее широко представленный лексемой Atomenergie . Общая полевая структура концепта с учетом всех номинативных единиц выглядит следующим образом: ядро составляет признак «отказ от ядерной энергетики» (31%); ближнюю периферию - «политические аспекты» и «опасности ЯЭ» (31%); дальнюю периферию - «вопросы экологии» и «будущее ЯЭ» (17%); крайнюю периферию - «ЯЭ как одна из проблем современности» и «мирное использование ЯЭ» (9%). Выводы. Дискуссионным продолжает оставаться вопрос о наличии корреляции между частотностью употребления лексических единиц рассматриваемого поля и происходящими в мире техногенными катастрофами. В рамках представленного исследования не было выявлено достоверных свидетельств подобной взаимосвязи. В ходе работы установлено, что пик употребления лексических единиц номинативного поля приходится на 2008-2009 гг., когда в Германии проходила подготовка и проведение предвыборной кампании в парламент, что позволяет сделать предположение о большем влиянии политической обстановки на семантическое наполнение концепта. Данная проблема, однако, требует дальнейших исследований на расширенном корпусе текстов. Statement of the problem. The semantic-cognitive method of language analysis as a means of studying concepts is of interest, because it allows one to identify the cognitive attributes of the concept on a wide and representative material. In the present study, the claimed method is presented in part regarding the analysis of lexicographic data and the cognitive interpretation of the contexts of the use of Atomkraft nominative field lexemes in German. The purpose of the article is to establish the cognitive features of the Atomkraft nominative field lexemes, codified in dictionaries and revealed during the analysis of the text corpus of publications in the media and blogs from 1980 to 2014, for the subsequent construction of a field model of the concept. Of particular interest is the effect of technological disasters in the nuclear energy sector that occurred during this period on the frequency of use and semantics of designated lexical units. Results. Based on the analysis of vocabulary entries, as well as the involvement of a representative text corpus, it is established that the dominant cognitive feature of the concept is “rejection of nuclear energy”, the most widely represented by the token Atomenergie . The general field structure of the concept, taking into account all nominative units, is as follows: the core is a sign of “abandonment of nuclear energy” (31%); the near periphery - “political aspects” and “dangers of nuclear power” (31%); the far periphery - “environmental issues” and “the future of nuclear power” (17%); the outer periphery - “nuclear power as one of the problems of our time” and “peaceful use of nuclear energy” (9%). Conclusion. The question of whether there is a correlation between the frequency of use of the lexical units of the field in question and the technological disasters occurring in the world continues to remain debatable. In the framework of the presented study, no reliable evidence of such a relationship was revealed. In the course of the work, it was found that the peak of the use of lexical units of the nominative field occurred in 2008-2009, when preparations for and pre-election campaigns were held in Germany, which suggests the greater influence of the political situation on the semantic content of the concept. This problem, however, requires further research on an expanded corpus of texts.

This article is devoted to the role of the territorial dispute in the South China sea in relations between China, Vietnam and India in the regional subsystem of Southeast Asia. The regional space under consideration is characterized by high economic dynamism and active integration processes, including participation of non-regional actors. Particular importance is attached to the positions of the three States on fundamental aspects that have a destructive impact on the development of regional processes. Attention is paid to the conceptualization of the policy of the three States in the waters of this sea. Following consideration of the problems the authors conclude that the intersection of the interests of the three countries in this sea threatens to exacerbate the fragility of the political and strategic landscape of the regional subsystem, registration open, but citizenries order on the space of the SCS. The article notes that the confrontational tone in relations between China, Vietnam and India brings with it many threats, in particular the clash of state interests in the energy plane, the arms race between the three nuclear powers (USA, India, China), which was accompanied by increased military presence of non-regional player (USA) in the region, complicated by territorial and historical conflicts.

The article is aimed at highlighting the historical and theoretical aspects of the study of the formation of foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the present stage is based on a combination of historically formed interests of the State and the ideology of the Islamic revolution – the so-called «Khomeinism». Balancing a pragmatic and a revolutionary approach is enshrined in the country’s political system itself and, thanks to a significant economic, demographic and military base, allows Iran to hold a strong position in the international arena. At the same time, the initial course of confrontation with a number of regional and global actors, coupled with the development of the national nuclear program, creates obstacles for Iran’s full functioning in the international arena. The geopolitical position of the Islamic Republic is as profitable as it is quite complicated. Being at the crossroads of several world regions and approaching the world’s key energy basins provides Tehran with ample opportunities to advance its own influence and cooperation with neighboring countries. At the same time, Iran is surrounded by zones of regional instability and its rivals or competitors. To counter external threats, Tehran has developed a flexible strategy based on a wide range of pro-Iranian non-governmental organizations – the so-called «Axis of Resistance» – and an asymmetrical action instrumentarium, which include the use of both hard and soft power methods. Currently, the degree of confrontation with regional adversaries (Israel and the Gulf countries) and a global opponent (the United States) is gaining a threatening scale. However, Iran is generally characterized by a periodic change in the cycles of aggravation of tension and d?tente in relations with its opponents. At the same time, Tehran’s pragmatism has its manifestation in maintaining relations and dialogue with its opponents in order to achieve certain goals, despite the confrontational discourse of official statements. In addition to the activities strictly along the perimeter of the State (that includes the Middle East, South Caucasus, Central and South Asia), Iran, to the best of its own capabilities and the regime of international sanctions, establishes relations with many countries of the world, from members of the UN Security Council - Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China to the countries of Africa and Latin America. To promote its discourse on the international stage, Tehran uses a wide network of cultural, religious, educational and charitable organizations. This approach allows to win supporters and generate financial flows for the regional activities of the IRI around the world.

Over the past two decades, the fundamentals of organizations have undergone a tremendous shift due to changes and uncertainty. To remain competitive in the face of both internal and external challenges, organizations have begun to actively monitor their surroundings in order to better understand the possibilities and threats that exist in such settings. The purpose of this research is to examine the function of competitive intelligence networks in the decision-making processes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kurdistan area of Iraq. Researchers, however, used five variables of competitive intelligence networks (network extensiveness, third-party strategy, homophily, issue awareness, and promotion effort) to gauge the direct influence on company performance at SMEs. In addition, the investigation was able to delve into the oblique function of competitive intelligence networks by using them as a mediator between company performance and competitive intelligence. Researchers in the Kurdistan area of Iraq utilized hierarchical multiple regression and the Sobel test to examine the impact of a competitive intelligence network on the financial success of small and medium-sized enterprises. Five elements of a competitive intelligence network were used to quantify the direct effect on SME performance (extensiveness network, third-party strategy, homophily, issue awareness, and promotion effort). In addition, the researchers utilized the competitive intelligence network as a mediator to quantify its effect on company performance. This allowed the analysis to delve into the indirect influence of the competitive intelligence network. The following competitive intelligence network aspects were used to analyze the direct and indirect impact of competitive intelligence networks on SME performance: network extensiveness, third-party strategy, homophily, problem awareness, and promotional effort.

This article is an original cultural anthropological study that is based on fieldwork done by the principal investigator, Antonio L. Rappa, on groups of urban workers and peasant farmers of Bangkok, Chiangmai, and Pattaya from 1998 to 2016. The focus of this article is on how these workers survive late modernity within the neoliberal capitalist world scenario. The fieldwork also showed the importance of materialism among Thai workers and how they remain trapped in giving up the surplus labor value of their work to the bourgeoisie (Marxian Theory). Since 1932 (the Siamese and since 1946), the Thai workers have been suppressed and exploited by the ruling elite (Power Elite Theory). Whether we use a Cultural Anthropological/Marxian, neo-Marxist Anthropological, or Power Elite theory (C. Wright Mills’ Theory) approach, it remains clear in 2022 that the Thai people still continue to be imprisoned by a desire for luxury goods and services (Thorstein Veblen). Then, there is the complication of religion. At least 93% of all Thai people are Theravada Buddhists and staunchly believe in worshipping the Buddha as well as in various superstitions. The remaining 5–7% are Muslims and Christians. It is only the Muslims who have consistently given political trouble to the Bangkok capitalists but the Muslims are not socialists or communists since they believe in the god known as Allah. Ever since the 1970s, Thailand came under serious threat from communism like many Southeast Asian states. King Bhumiphon Adulyadej (Rama IX) was already a deeply respected monarch and a virtual demi-God to the superstitious and animistic Thai Buddhists. Few Thais realized at that time that the King was also a well-read scientist knowledgeable in urban planning and agriculture. Rama IX applied the knowledge that he garnered from Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, toward building a new kind of thinking, called Self-Sufficiency Economy (SSE). Rama IX’s SSE was not unique to Thailand and commonly practiced to various effects in South Asia, the Far East, and Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, the king thought that the SSE would be a good way out for his people. He believed that if each Tambon or village could cooperate using existing resources, provincial assistance in agricultural knowledge, and the model-village concept, then the Thai people would be self-sufficient in many aspects. This was also known as the One-Thambon, One-Product (OTOP) policy. This is itself a manifestation of the materialist cultural anthropologic of Thai culture itself. The article concludes with an analysis of the dual pricing system or two-tier pricing system, and why the Thai people appear to support Thorstein Veblen’s Theory and C. Wright Mills’ Theory rather than any neo-Marxist theory of land distribution and property ownership.

Background: In Western countries, middle-aged women are more vulnerable to breast cancer. Globally, almost a million new cases were identified in 1998. One in 12 women in England and Wales will get the disease at some point.1 Even 5,000 years after it was first reported, the etiology of breast cancer is still unclear, and effective preventative measures are even further off. Aim: To characterize the varied ways in which breast cancer has presented itself among patients at Bahawal Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur. Methods: This investigation employed a descriptive case series research design. This research was conducted at Bahawal Victoria Hospital's Surgery Department in Bahawalpur (Pakistan). From March 13th, 2020 through March 12th, 2021, the study was conducted (12 months). With their assent, 100 women with definite cases of breast cancer were enrolled in the study. Results: Cancer of the breast most commonly affected women between the ages of 31 and 50 (59%). Seventy-six patients arrived from the outlying rural areas of Bahawalpur and the neighboring districts. Only 18 patients had completed high school after 10 years and 5 patients were discovered to be college graduates. The single rate was 12%, with 12 patients. Eighty-one percent of patients reported having a breast lump. 56% of breast cancers involve the left breast, while 43% involve the right. One patient alone had breast cancer that had spread to both of her breasts. Illness duration varied from 1 month to 5 years. Stage III was the most prevalent presentation, with 46 instances, and Stage IV was the least common, with 16 patients. Practical implication Community based effective awareness and prompt screening programme will improve better outcomes in breast cancer management. Conclusion: Breast cancer is very common cancer in the females, and most commonly it presented as a lump in the breast, because of some social aspects, lack of awareness, poverty, no proper screening programs and above all the fear of diagnosis, females try to hide this problem and often it presented at late and more advance stage. Keywords: Breast, Nipple, Cancer, Lump, Surgery, Tumor

Abstract On September 11, this year, Enrico Bellotti - “Puccio”, for his friends and colleagues - left us. In mourning the loss of Puccio, who was a highly esteemed figure both for his professional stature and his human qualities, personal reminiscences arise in many of us, about the scientific experiences we shared and enjoyed together, during a very long lapse of time. A number of these memories are related to the TAUP Conference. At the first meeting of this Conference, held in September 1989 in the Castello Cinquecentesco in the town of L’Aquila, Italy, a welcoming address to the participants was delivered by Enrico Bellotti. On that occasion, he synthetically depicted how, in the seventies, emerging common scientific interests among particle physicists, astrophysicists, and cosmologists led to “the need of a new, large, and well equipped underground laboratory”, which could provide an experimental setup adequate to pursue investigations previously carried out in “facilities, mines or small caves, not specially designed to that purpose.” Obviously, Puccio knew pretty well all the details - physical motivations and experimental aspects - of that epochal transition from small facilities to a highly structured laboratory, as he was one of the main actors of that extraordinary experimental breakthrough. His involvement in underground physics had started in the early eighties with an experiment designed to study nucleon stability, whose detector, NUSEX, was installed in a garage area along the road tunnel under the Mont Blanc. In this same underground location, he also took part in an important search for neutrinoless double beta decay in germanium. Quite naturally, as the project of the Gran Sasso Laboratory got political approval and its construction plans started, Puccio became progressively more and more involved in its complex realization – eventually becoming the first director of the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in 1987, when the laboratory became operative. His vision as to the role of the lab was wide and far-sighted, not only in terms of the experimental investigations to be carried out in it, but also within a more general perspective. Puccio aimed at creating a top level scientific community living at Gran Sasso, and – in Puccio’s own words at TAUP 89 – at promoting “cultural opportunities like this Conference from which we expect suggestions and scientific support.” These ideas were perfectly in tune with the scientific motivations at the origin of the foundation of the TAUP Conference. The remarkable development of the LNGS in the following years witness Puccio’s skills in managing the laboratory and in putting the basis for great scientific achievements. The Borexino experiment is a prominent example of a project that he strongly supported. Puccio had a major personal role in the conduction of important experiments. Needless recalling here the extraordinary success of the investigations carried out on the low-energy part of the neutrino emission by the sun, with two outstanding experiments: the Gallium Experiment (GALLEX), followed by the Gallium Neutrino Observatory (GNO), where Puccio acted as a spokesman. Furthermore, Puccio’s involvement in the Germanium Detector Array (GERDA) was the natural outcome of his continuous interest for the intriguing search for neutrinoless double beta decays. In parallel with this activity, in 1991, Puccio was also involved in a new line of investigation proposed and initiated at the LNGS. The idea was to measure nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest, i. e. those involved in fusion processes that took place in the early universe and that are also of relevance in the processes of hydrogen and helium burning occurring in the stars. Their cross sections are so low that their experimental measurements require the installment of an appropriate set-up in an environment with extremely low backgrounds. The LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) Experiment was installed at LNGS and progressively went through various steps, with remarkable results. Recent experimental outcomes led to a significant improvement in the theoretical prediction for the amount of deuterium produced during cosmological nucleosynthesis. Puccio also paid much attention to experimental instrumentations installed outside the underground laboratory. Hence, his strong support, and personal involvement, in the physics of cosmic rays investigated by Extensive Air Shower Array with detectors placed at an altitude of 2005 meters above sea level (EAS-TOP), whose measurements could be correlated with observations performed by detectors located inside the underground laboratory. Furthermore, in the late eighties, within the physical community, an increasing interest for investigating high-energy neutrinos emitted by astrophysical sources was emerging, but it soon became clear that this kind of investigation required large-area detectors, and therefore that these experimental setups could not be located in an underground laboratory. For this reason, various experimental groups started conceiving large-area installations based on water Cerenkov detectors to be placed outside an underground environment. Puccio was very interested in this field and collaborated very actively in a project led by Milla Baldo Ceolin, that was first discussed during the first edition of the International Workshop on Neutrino Telescope in Venice, in November 1988. On that occasion, Puccio presented a detailed survey about many sites located within a distance of 20 kilometers from the LNGS, that could be considered as possible sites for a neutrino telescope. The reason for recalling here those circumstances is to stress how open-minded Puccio was in considering new routes within research in physics, with a marked hands-on approach. This initial stage in the conception of a neutrino telescope gave rise to a collaboration which brought together, in the period between the late eighties and the early nineties, a considerable number of experimentalists and theoreticians. The reference point of this activity were the Venice workshops, in an interplay with the TAUP meetings, whose venue, at that time, alternated between the LNGS and the Spanish location of Toledo. Eventually, the Neutrino Telescope (NET) project did not go through, but - I believe - that experience was very exciting and instructive for many of us – and it certainly contributed to convey much attention to that specific field of research. From then onwards, Puccio’s support in the development of the TAUP Conference was invaluable. He was a member of the Steering Committee, a chairman of the organizing committee, a keynote speaker, and a convener of workshop sessions. We have so far focused on Puccio’s activities in underground physics. But this does not mean that he was not involved in other branches of physics. Actually, Puccio’s initial professional work was devoted to measurements at particle accelerators. Most remarkably, he participated in the Gargamelle neutrino experiment at CERN, an experiment that in 1973 discovered the existence of weak currents – a milestone in physics, and specifically in the test of the electro-weak unification model. Our community will deeply miss Puccio, and will certainly remember him as a colleague and a friend always open to new ideas and to new challenges.

This paper studies early arguments in Sweden for combating climate change. We show how scientific results in relation to climate change entered the political sphere as part of the debate on energy in the 1970s, a process we propose to name energysation. We argue that the use of climate science by pro-nuclear political actors served as a way of maintaining a course set by a high-energy society while simultaneously trying to outmanoeuvre the growing environmental anti-nuclear and low-energy movement. When the pro-nuclear power side met with resistance, this led to a displacement of climate change knowledge away from the realm of the national political sphere and specific energy forms, a process we conceptualise as de-energysation. By highlighting conflicts and the political framings of climate change in the early years 1974–1983, we suggest that the history of these frames influences current delay in climate change mitigation and limits the range of actions and ways of addressing the ongoing climate emergency.

Plans to provide a uniform platform for cogeneration grid accesswith consistent pricing rules and incentives is currently being imple-mented within the EU, although the results and problematic issues arenot clear at this time. Because of the considerable difference in utilitysupply, regulatory interface, taxation, and political structures in the vari-ous countries, the current level of cogeneration activity varies greatlyfrom country to country. For instance, there exists little technical or eco-nomic incentives to develop cogeneration in France. However, in theUnited Kingdom and Germany, with their high dependence on fossilfuels and a much more “open” political structure, cogeneration activityis significantly higher.The UK, despite its deregulated political status, still maintains atight band of very large utility operators, as contrasted to Germany’smarket with over 900 utility entities. While Germany’s cogenerationmarket is well developed, it is also the world leader in wind capacity,with approximately 1,200 MW operating in 1999, many infrastructureand political issues still prevent the full potential from being realized.Germany, along with Sweden, has initiated strong legislation to phaseout current nuclear generation capacity. This will open additional areasfor cogeneration growth, especially Sweden, where the current powersupply is over 90% nuclear and hydro. To date this has provided mini-mum room for only a very small market for specialized, highly efficientthermal cogeneration plants.

AbstractDespite the consensus that the transition to renewable energy is a process that encompasses institutional, regulatory, technical, political, social, and cultural aspects, such issues have rarely been addressed in a comprehensive way. This study explores the determinants of renewable energy production (REP), focusing on institutional and socio-technical aspects. We employ a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model to test dynamic relationships for the period 1990–2015 among several variables, as have emerged in the literature: REP, policy stringency, public awareness, lobbying, education, controlling for income and energy imports. Focusing indiscriminately on 18 European Union (EU) member states, the results show that environmental policy stringency does not influence REP, while income and education impact negatively. This evidence is counter-intuitive, and would be surprising if we did not consider the strong heterogeneity between countries. EU member states are engaging in energy transition at different speeds, depending on their individual starting point: this differs from country to country in terms of installed capacity and energy security. Moving from the recent European Green Deal, we divide the sample into two panels based on energy imports to account for different starting points: countries less active on the production side (that depends particularly on energy imports), and countries more active on the production side. Results for the first panel show that an increase in policy stringency would lead to a decrease in lobbying and an increase in REP. Policy efforts must be clearly established and consistently preserved to support REP, at least if there are increasing returns to exploit. Results for the second panel show that lobbying negatively affects the transition to REP, while an increase in public awareness will promote an increase in REP. Therefore, priority should be given to the ‘social’ aspect, and policymakers should increase efforts to reduce the proportion of energy generated from oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear fuel.

The following theses are claimed, several contrasting current climate policies and taxonomies. Analysis, based on solely carbon dioxide emission and energy budget, concludes a set of concrete solutions for mitigating climate change effects. Some of the theses violate more orthodox policy which is thus protested against in order to move forward. • Our long-term goal must be to stop using all carbon-containing fuels, including natural gas and other fossil products as well as biofuels. • We must electrify society and industry, with electricity from only non-carbon-based power including nuclear power, hydro-electric, wind and solar power. • We must prepare ourselves for changes. Even if the present emission volumes of carbon dioxide were possible to stop immediately, various lag effects are inevitable and negative development will therefore continue for considerable time. • We must count with continued melting of land ice, the complete liquifying of the Antarctica ice expected to lead to a global sea level rise by some 60 m, flooding most capitals. Among various solutions to mitigate the effects of ice melting, including lowered global temperatures, the following is proposed. • To mitigate sea level rise, stationary water reservoirs should be built around the world. With estimated melting rates it would require ca 1 million reservoirs be deployed or expanded during the next 20-40 years. • Such reservoirs could also solve the emergent problem of lack of fresh water in many places. They could also be used for local storage of hydroelectric energy by using pump storage hydroelectric (PSH) technology. • All energy production sources should be analyzed according to a Total Balanced Energy Budget (TBEB) with the main objective of minimizing the emissions of greenhouse gases. • For each region/country, a table of available or conceivable complementary electric energy sources should be made and ranked according to TBEB—the sources given priority weights depending on feasibility, significance, and environmental friendliness. Tables are presented for Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Ukraine, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Peru, Australia, China and Japan. Generally, we find the following rank of priority applicable. • Solar energy from desert arid areas is given highest priority in replacing carbon-based forms of energy. Submarine electric cables may be deployed along the Australia-Singapore model, if the available power grids are insufficient for the energy transport. • Electrolysis of water producing clean hydrogen gas is given very high priorityboth for using hydrogen as fuel as well as for energy storage. Improved efficiency should be achieved by the development of electrolysis catalysts. • Hydroelectric power in combination with PSH is given high priority to mitigate both grid power fluctuations as well as source (solar and wind) intermittence. • False hope should not be seeded among society and politicians by inflating projects that are less realistic or suboptimal for technological, economic or other reasons. Here, probably most forms of “biofuels” (which although being “carbon neutral” do produce carbon dioxide) and “carbon capture” (catching carbon dioxide gas at the combustion site, compressing it to liquid and depositing it in salt mines or empty oil fields) are considered less significant compared to other more direct solutions. Both biofuels and carbon capture may be associated with social and environmental issues. • Political legislation and instruments (“taxonomy”) invented with the original objective of mitigating negative climate change effects should be reanalyzed and changed if not functional. The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)—a market for outlet rights, for example, is a local initiative which despite its valuable ambition might be suboptimal with respect to goal of efficient decrease of carbon dioxide emission globally. Similarly, “climate taxonomy” can create loopholes bypassing a sound TBEB. • Science-based targets (SBT) to decarbonize the private sector as part of global efforts to achieve the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement should be further encouraged. • Solve economic and political challenges allowing and promoting establishment of required international energy collaborations (e.g., for solar energy cross-continental transport programs).

Nadine Gordimer’s 1979 novel, Burger’s Daughter, makes a valuable contribution to the corpus of prison writing by responding to the socio-historical specificities of the South African prison during the apartheid regime. Drawing on Barbara Harlow’s work on women and political detention, and with reference to Ruth First’s memoir, 117 Days: An Account of confinement and interrogations under the South African ninety-day detention law (1965), this article offers an analysis of the potential for writing—both as fiction and memoir—to reinstate to the official historical record women’s roles in the anti-apartheid movement and their subsequent political detention. It explores how the apartheid regime intended prison not for rehabilitation but as a space of deactivation and invisibility. Prison is, however, a world apart, a liminal space which is simultaneously conducive to political struggle and deactivation, violence and communitas. This article begins by exploring how apartheid prison was both a space of deactivation and of resistance for women activists. It then moves to examine how both these contradictory aspects are registered, briefly, in Ruth First’s memoir, 117 Days and, to a larger extent, in Nadine Gordimer’s Burger’s Daughter. First’s memoir depicts the prison as a space that imposes inertia while also allowing for moments of solidarity between incarcerated activists. Similarly, in Gordimer’s novel, the journey of Rosa, the eponymous Burger’s daughter, takes her from outside of the prison to inside it, and from feeling alienated to feeling belonging as she endures transformation that is spatial and spiritual, personal and political.

Introduction: Job satisfaction is an employee's positive emotional response to their job or aspects of their job.It greatly determines the productivity and efficiency of human resources for health and is linked with the work environment, job responsibilities and powers, and time pressure among various health professionals. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess the level of job satisfaction and to find out associations between levels of job satisfaction with their selected variables. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was adopted. Altogether, there were 70 teachers during the data collection period from 2019/09/16 to 2019/09/27. The institutional census method (total enumerated sampling) was used to select the campus and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Filled-up questionnaires were edited,cleaned,coded on a daily basis,entered into the computer system,and analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Study results showed that among the 70 respondents, more than half were 30-40 years of age group (61.4%),had master's level education (57.1%) and the majority of them were married (81.4%) and almost all of them (98.6%) were female.It is found that 58.6% of the respondents were ambivalent,37.1% were satisfied and 4.3% were dissatisfied with their job. The level of job satisfaction is somewhat statistically significant with affiliated to/constituent (p=0.056). Conclusion: From the result, it is concluded that a large proportion of respondents were ambivalent about their job. Quantitative research was carried out in this study but as job satisfaction is the intangible perception of an individual so the mixed approach would be far better.

The on-line version of the Dictionary of Standard Slovenian from 2000 defines the Slovenian equivalent of the term »risk« (tveganje) as the gerund of the verb “to risk” (tvegati). According to our secular understanding, the word is synonymous with the term “hazard” (nevarnost), which is in the same dictionary defined as the possibility of an accident, damage or something negative, generally unpleasant. In the title of this issue, we refer to the risks or hazards that are of non-military origin and at the same time new. A detailed description of the sources of threat, risk and hazard is given in the Resolution on National Security Strategy of the Republic of Slovenia adopted in 2010. According to Chapter 4 of the Resolution, the sources of threat and risk to the national security of the Republic of Slovenia, with regard to their origin, occur at the global, transnational and national levels. The global sources of threat and risk to national security include climate change, global financial, economic and social risks, as well as crisis areas. Transnational sources of threat and risk to national security include terrorism and illicit activities in the areas of conventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction and nuclear technology, organised crime, illegal migrations, cyber threats and misuse on information technologies and systems as well as activities of foreign intelligence services. Finally, national sources of threat and risk to national security include threats to public safety, natural and other disasters, the scarcity of natural resources and the degradation of the living environment, medical and epidemiological threats and other specific factors of uncertainty (which according to the resolution include poverty, negative demographic trends, vulnerability of critical infrastructure etc.) This much about the sources of threat and risk to national security. But can we actually claim that these are new threats? Not really. Some of them are more recent, but not entirely new, again some other forms have appeared before in the near and distant past and might appear again in a more modern form very soon. Or they might not. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the authors of this issue have not prepared interesting aspects of possible risks or hazards. See for yourself. In the previous issue, Branimir Furlan, promised to provide the continuation of his article. In the second part of his article with the same title Ineffectiveness of the military as an indicator of inappropriate civilian control he thus says that the first part had presented the theoretical and methodological framework, while the second part presents the results of the study of civil-military relations in the Republic of Slovenia, focusing on the impact of civilian control on the effectiveness of the Slovenian Armed Forces. So, what are the results and how effective is the military according to the author? Is the methodology of determining the leadership potential finally the way to excellent military leaders? is the title of the article by Dejan Okovič. He claims that after adopting the Methodology of Determining the Leadership Potential, the Slovenian Armed Forces will have all the necessary tools to introduce military leadership. He states that the social power provides leaders with the ability to lead their team members, while the latter are one of the prerequisites for the existence of leadership. In the article, the readers will find out what tools the author refers to, how to determine the leadership potential, and what leadership actually is. The Arctic is subjected to climate changes, which are revealing its energy, political and economic potential, and are turning it into the new "Orient", says Sandra Martinič in her article titled Energy race for the arctic. The author explains what the Arctic actually is – land or sea, what are its energy potentials, who is interested in them and how they could be reached. The regulation of the access to energy resources by international law will most probably lead to even greater militarization of the area, since the security of resources and the environment will gain importance. Foundering of the Austro-Hungarian flagship Viribus Unitis through Italian military archive files is the title of the article by Matjaž Bizjak. With the help of archival documents, the author takes the reader back to 1918. To be precise, on 1 November 1918, two Italian commandos used an original method to founder the Austro-Hungarian flagship in Pula. Their idea was really something special and its implementation is exceptional. Just before the explosion, they were very surprised at the actual situation, but with the timer ticking, the time for improvisation was running out. Anton Kanduti wrote an article titled Pilot project: military clubs in the Slovenian Armed Forces and a way ahead. He says that there are two military clubs in the Slovenian Armed Forces, namely one in the “Kadetnica” facility in Maribor and one in “Jernej Molan” barracks at Cerklje ob Krki. How do they operate, what are the legal bases for their operation, their purposes, and the aims they achieve? The article presents all of the above and the results of a survey among Slovenian Armed Forces members.

Each community’s title deed carries the indelible blood stains of our ancestors. (Watson, "Howard’s End" 2)IntroductionAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term coalition comes from the Latin coalescere or ‘coalesce’, meaning “come or bring together to form one mass or whole”. Coalesce refers to the unity affirmed as something grows: co – “together”, alesce – “to grow up”. While coalition is commonly associated with formalised alliances and political strategy in the name of self-interest and common goals, this paper will draw as well on the broader etymological understanding of coalition as “growing together” in order to discuss the Australian government’s recent changes to land rights legislation, the 2007 Emergency Intervention into the Northern Territory, and its decision to use Indigenous land in the Northern Territory as a dumping ground for nuclear waste. What unites these distinct cases is the role of the Australian nation-state in asserting its sovereign right to decide, something Giorgio Agamben notes is the primary indicator of sovereign right and power (Agamben). As Fiona McAllan has argued in relation to the Northern Territory Intervention: “Various forces that had been coalescing and captivating the moral, imaginary centre were now contributing to a spectacular enactment of a sovereign rescue mission” (par. 18). Different visions of “growing together”, and different coalitional strategies, are played out in public debate and policy formation. This paper will argue that each of these cases represents an alliance between successive, oppositional governments - and the nourishment of neoliberal imperatives - over and against the interests of some of the Indigenous communities, especially with relation to land rights. A critical stance is taken in relation to the alterations to land rights laws over the past five years and with the Northern Territory Emergency Intervention, hereinafter referred to as the Intervention, firstly by the Howard Liberal Coalition Government and later continued, in what Anthony Lambert has usefully termed a “postcoalitional” fashion, by the Rudd Labor Government. By this, Lambert refers to the manner in which dominant relations of power continue despite the apparent collapse of old political coalitions and even in the face of seemingly progressive symbolic and material change. It is not the intention of this paper to locate Indigenous people in opposition to models of economic development aligned with neoliberalism. There are examples of productive relations between Indigenous communities and mining companies, in which Indigenous people retain control over decision-making and utilise Land Council’s to negotiate effectively. Major mining company Rio Tinto, for example, initiated an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Policy platform in the mid-1990s (Rio Tinto). Moreover, there are diverse perspectives within the Indigenous community regarding social and economic reform governed by neoliberal agendas as well as government initiatives such as the Intervention, motivated by a concern for the abuse of children, as outlined in The Little Children Are Sacred Report (Wild & Anderson; hereinafter Little Children). Indeed, there is no agreement on whether or not the Intervention had anything to do with land rights. On the one hand, Noel Pearson has strongly opposed this assertion: “I've got as much objections as anybody to the ideological prejudices of the Howard Government in relation to land, but this question is not about a 'land grab'. The Anderson Wild Report tells us about the scale of Aboriginal children's neglect and abuse" (ABC). Marcia Langton has agreed with this stating that “There's a cynical view afoot that the emergency intervention was a political ploy - a Trojan Horse - to sneak through land grabs and some gratuitous black head-kicking disguised as concern for children. These conspiracy theories abound, and they are mostly ridiculous” (Langton). Patrick Dodson on the other hand, has argued that yes, of course, the children remain the highest priority, but that this “is undermined by the Government's heavy-handed authoritarian intervention and its ideological and deceptive land reform agenda” (Dodson). WhitenessOne way to frame this issue is to look at it through the lens of critical race and whiteness theory. Is it possible that the interests of whiteness are at play in the coalitions of corporate/private enterprise and political interests in the Northern Territory, in the coupling of social conservatism and economic rationalism? Using this framework allows us to identify the partial interests at play and the implications of this for discussions in Australia around sovereignty and self-determination, as well as providing a discursive framework through which to understand how these coalitional interests represent a specific understanding of progress, growth and development. Whiteness theory takes an empirically informed stance in order to critique the operation of unequal power relations and discriminatory practices imbued in racialised structures. Whiteness and critical race theory take the twin interests of racial privileging and racial discrimination and discuss their historical and on-going relevance for law, philosophy, representation, media, politics and policy. Foregrounding contemporary analysis in whiteness studies is the central role of race in the development of the Australian nation, most evident in the dispossession and destruction of Indigenous lands, cultures and lives, which occurred initially prior to Federation, as well as following. Cheryl Harris’s landmark paper “Whiteness as Property” argues, in the context of the US, that “the origins of property rights ... are rooted in racial domination” and that the “interaction between conceptions of race and property ... played a critical role in establishing and maintaining racial and economic subordination” (Harris 1716).Reiterating the logic of racial inferiority and the assumption of a lack of rationality and civility, Indigenous people were named in the Australian Constitution as “flora and fauna” – which was not overturned until a national referendum in 1967. This, coupled with the logic of terra nullius represents the racist foundational logic of Australian statehood. As is well known, terra nullius declared that the land belonged to no-one, denying Indigenous people property rights over land. Whiteness, Moreton-Robinson contends, “is constitutive of the epistemology of the West; it is an invisible regime of power that secures hegemony through discourse and has material effects in everyday life” (Whiteness 75).In addition to analysing racial power structures, critical race theory has presented studies into the link between race, whiteness and neoliberalism. Roberts and Mahtami argue that it is not just that neoliberalism has racialised effects, rather that neoliberalism and its underlying philosophy is “fundamentally raced and produces racialized bodies” (248; also see Goldberg Threat). The effect of the free market on state sovereignty has been hotly debated too. Aihwa Ong contends that neoliberalism produces particular relationships between the state and non-state corporations, as well as determining the role of individuals within the body-politic. Ong specifies:Market-driven logic induces the co-ordination of political policies with the corporate interests, so that developmental discussions favour the fragmentation of the national space into various contiguous zones, and promote the differential regulation of the populations who can be connected to or disconnected from global circuits of capital. (Ong, Neoliberalism 77)So how is whiteness relevant to a discussion of land reform, and to the changes to land rights passed along with Intervention legislation in 2007? Irene Watson cites the former Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, who opposed the progressive individual with what he termed the “failed collective.” Watson asserts that in the debates around land leasing and the Intervention, “Aboriginal law and traditional roles and responsibilities for caring and belonging to country are transformed into the cause for community violence” (Sovereign Spaces 34). The effects of this, I will argue, are twofold and move beyond a moral or social agenda in the strictest sense of the terms: firstly to promote, and make more accessible, the possibility of private and government coalitions in relation to Indigenous lands, and secondly, to reinforce the sovereignty of the state, recognised in the capacity to make decisions. It is here that the explicit reiteration of what Aileen Moreton-Robinson calls “white possession” is clearly evidenced (The Possessive Logic). Sovereign Interventions In the Northern Territory 50% of land is owned by Indigenous people under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (ALRA) (NT). This law gives Indigenous people control, mediated via land councils, over their lands. It is the contention of this paper that the rights enabled through this law have been eroded in recent times in the coalescing interests of government and private enterprise via, broadly, land rights reform measures. In August 2007 the government passed a number of laws that overturned aspects of the Racial Discrimination Act 197 5(RDA), including the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 and the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Township Leasing) Bill 2007. Ostensibly these laws were a response to evidence of alarming levels of child abuse in remote Indigenous communities, which has been compiled in the special report Little Children, co-chaired by Rex Wild QC and Patricia Anderson. This report argued that urgent but culturally appropriate strategies were required in order to assist the local communities in tackling the issues. The recommendations of the report did not include military intervention, and instead prioritised the need to support and work in dialogue with local Indigenous people and organisations who were already attempting, with extremely limited resources, to challenge the problem. Specifically it stated that:The thrust of our recommendations, which are designed to advise the NT government on how it can help support communities to effectively prevent and tackle child sexual abuse, is for there to be consultation with, and ownership by the local communities, of these solutions. (Wild & Anderson 23) Instead, the Federal Coalition government, with support from the opposition Labor Party, initiated a large scale intervention, which included the deployment of the military, to install order and assist medical personnel to carry out compulsory health checks on minors. The intervention affected 73 communities with populations of over 200 Aboriginal men, women and children (Altman, Neo-Paternalism 8). The reality of high levels of domestic and sexual abuse in Indigenous communities requires urgent and diligent attention, but it is not the space of this paper to unpack the media spectacle or the politically determined response to these serious issues, or the considered and careful reports such as the one cited above. While the report specifies the need for local solutions and local control of the process and decision-making, the Federal Liberal Coalition government’s intervention, and the current Labor government’s faithfulness to these, has been centralised and external, imposed upon communities. Rebecca Stringer argues that the Trojan horse thesis indicates what is at stake in this Intervention, while also pinpointing its main weakness. That is, the counter-intuitive links its architects make between addressing child sexual abuse and re-litigating Indigenous land tenure and governance arrangements in a manner that undermines Aboriginal sovereignty and further opens Aboriginal lands to private interests among the mining, nuclear power, tourism, property development and labour brokerage industries. (par. 8)Alongside welfare quarantining for all Indigenous people, was a decision by parliament to overturn the “permit system”, a legal protocol provided by the ALRA and in place so as to enable Indigenous peoples the right to refuse and grant entry to strangers wanting to access their lands. To place this in a broader context of land rights reform, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 2006, created the possibility of 99 year individual leases, at the expense of communal ownership. The legislation operates as a way of individualising the land arrangements in remote Indigenous communities by opening communal land up as private plots able to be bought by Aboriginal people or any other interested party. Indeed, according to Leon Terrill, land reform in Australia over the past 10 years reflects an attempt to return control of decision-making to government bureaucracy, even as governments have downplayed this aspect. Terrill argues that Township Leasing (enabled via the 2006 legislation), takes “wholesale decision-making about land use” away from Traditional Owners and instead places it in the hands of a government entity called the Executive Director of Township Leasing (3). With the passage of legislation around the Intervention, five year leases were created to enable the Commonwealth “administrative control” over the communities affected (Terrill 3). Finally, under the current changes it is unlikely that more than a small percentage of Aboriginal people will be able to access individual land leasing. Moreover, the argument has been presented that these reforms reflect a broader project aimed at replacing communal land ownership arrangements. This agenda has been justified at a rhetorical level via the demonization of communal land ownership arrangements. Helen Hughes and Jenness Warin, researchers at the rightwing think-tank, the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), released a report entitled A New Deal for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in Remote Communities, in which they argue that there is a direct casual link between communal ownership and economic underdevelopment: “Communal ownership of land, royalties and other resources is the principle cause of the lack of economic development in remote areas” (in Norberry & Gardiner-Garden 8). In 2005, then Prime Minister, John Howard, publicly introduced the government’s ambition to alter the structure of Indigenous land arrangements, couching his agenda in the language of “equal opportunity”. I believe there’s a case for reviewing the whole issue of Aboriginal land title in the sense of looking more towards private recognition …, I’m talking about giving them the same opportunities as the rest of their fellow Australians. (Watson, "Howard’s End" 1)Scholars of critical race theory have argued that the language of equality, usually tied to liberalism (though not always) masks racial inequality and even results in “camouflaged racism” (Davis 61). David Theo Goldberg notes that, “the racial status-quo - racial exclusions and privileges favouring for the most part middle - and upper class whites - is maintained by formalising equality through states of legal and administrative science” (Racial State 222). While Howard and his coalition of supporters have associated communal title with disadvantage and called for the equality to be found in individual leases (Dodson), Altman has argued that there is no logical link between forms of communal land ownership and incidences of sexual abuse, and indeed, the government’s use of sexual abuse disingenuously disguises it’s imperative to alter the land ownership arrangements: “Given the proposed changes to the ALRA are in no way associated with child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities […] there is therefore no pressing urgency to pass the amendments.” (Altman National Emergency, 3) In the case of the Intervention, land rights reforms have affected the continued dispossession of Indigenous people in the interests of “commercial development” (Altman Neo-Paternalism 8). In light of this it can be argued that what is occurring conforms to what Aileen Moreton-Robinson has highlighted as the “possessive logic of patriarchal white sovereignty” (Possessive Logic). White sovereignty, under the banner of benevolent paternalism overturns the authority it has conceded to local Indigenous communities. This is realised via township leases, five year leases, housing leases and other measures, stripping them of the right to refuse the government and private enterprise entry into their lands (effectively the right of control and decision-making), and opening them up to, as Stringer argues, a range of commercial and government interests. Future Concerns and Concluding NotesThe etymological root of coalition is coalesce, inferring the broad ambition to “grow together”. In the issues outlined above, growing together is dominated by neoliberal interests, or what Stringer has termed “assimilatory neoliberation”. The issue extends beyond a social and economic assimilationism project and into a political and legal “land grab”, because, as Ong notes, the neoliberal agenda aligns itself with the nation-state. This coalitional arrangement of neoliberal and governmental interests reiterates “white possession” (Moreton-Robinson, The Possessive Logic). This is evidenced in the position of the current Labor government decision to uphold the nomination of Muckaty as a radioactive waste repository site in Australia (Stokes). In 2007, the Northern Land Council (NLC) nominated Muckaty Station to be the site for waste disposal. This decision cannot be read outside the context of Maralinga, in the South Australian desert, a site where experiments involving nuclear technology were conducted in the 1960s. As John Keane recounts, the Australian government permitted the British government to conduct tests, dispossessing the local Aboriginal group, the Tjarutja, and employing a single patrol officer “the job of monitoring the movements of the Aborigines and quarantining them in settlements” (Keane). Situated within this historical colonial context, in 2006, under a John Howard led Liberal Coalition, the government passed the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act (CRWMA), a law which effectively overrode the rulings of the Northern Territory government in relation decisions regarding nuclear waste disposal, as well as overriding the rights of traditional Aboriginal owners and the validity of sacred sites. The Australian Labor government has sought to alter the CRWMA in order to reinstate the importance of following due process in the nomination process of land. However, it left the proposed site of Muckaty as confirmed, and the new bill, titled National Radioactive Waste Management retains many of the same characteristics of the Howard government legislation. In 2010, 57 traditional owners from Muckaty and surrounding areas signed a petition stating their opposition to the disposal site (the case is currently in the Federal Court). At a time when nuclear power has come back onto the radar as a possible solution to the energy crisis and climate change, questions concerning the investments of government and its loyalties should be asked. As Malcolm Knox has written “the nuclear industry has become evangelical about the dangers of global warming” (Knox). While nuclear is a “cleaner” energy than coal, until better methods are designed for processing its waste, larger amounts of it will be produced, requiring lands that can hold it for the desired timeframes. For Australia, this demands attention to the politics and ethics of waste disposal. Such an issue is already being played out, before nuclear has even been signed off as a solution to climate change, with the need to find a disposal site to accommodate already existing uranium exported to Europe and destined to return as waste to Australia in 2014. The decision to go ahead with Muckaty against the wishes of the voices of local Indigenous people may open the way for the co-opting of a discourse of environmentalism by political and business groups to promote the development and expansion of nuclear power as an alternative to coal and oil for energy production; dumping waste on Indigenous lands becomes part of the solution to climate change. During the 2010 Australian election, Greens Leader Bob Brown played upon the word coalition to suggest that the Liberal National Party were in COALition with the mining industry over the proposed Mining Tax – the Liberal Coalition opposed any mining tax (Brown). Here Brown highlights the alliance of political agendas and business or corporate interests quite succinctly. Like Brown’s COALition, will government (of either major party) form a coalition with the nuclear power stakeholders?This paper has attempted to bring to light what Dodson has identified as “an alliance of established conservative forces...with more recent and strident ideological thinking associated with free market economics and notions of individual responsibility” and the implications of this alliance for land rights (Dodson). It is important to ask critical questions about the vision of “growing together” being promoted via the coalition of conservative, neoliberal, private and government interests.Acknowledgements Many thanks to the reviewers of this article for their useful suggestions. 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