Some Policy Aspects of the Fast Reactor Question

Abstract

It is now better understood that energy policy involves planning under major uncertainties rather than optimisation based on forecasts of demand and costs of supply. The key decisions are long-term ones and they must not be dominated by short-term considerations. Long-term strategic guidelines are therefore needed to provide a framework for medium-term planning by the fuel industries and for related infrastructure decisions, e.g. transport and urban redevelopment, which will influence energy demand in the long term¹. As time horizons have lengthened, the policy emphasis has shifted to seeking insurance against undesirable outcomes and retaining and developing options. A major contingency to be guarded against is a swift return to heavy dependence on oil imports at very high costs in terms of the balance of payments, unemployment and living standards.