2 Doctoral student in nuclear energy history | Σουηδία

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as in architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

Project description

Third-cycle subject: History of science, technology and environment

The Division of History at KTH is starting up a new, ambitious research project in 2018, targeting the history of nuclear energy in global perspective. The project is led by Per Högselius and is funded by the European Research Council (ERC). Its focus is on controversies over nuclear cooling systems. Water supplies for cooling nuclear reactors form the very heart of nuclear (un)safety. Most accidents and incidents in the nuclear field have historically been linked to water-supply problems. The cooling system comprises a variety of technical components such as pipes, valves, pumps and cooling towers, but also the seas, lakes and rivers from which nuclear power plants source massive volumes of water. Equally important are, of course, the people who have been in charge of developing and operating nuclear cooling systems.  

We are now looking for two Doctoral students to participate in this project. One of the Doctoral students will be expected to study historical controversies over cooling systems in international perspective and the focus is here mainly on English-language documentary sources.

The other Doctoral student will be expected to study the development in a specific geographical region: the highly nuclearized Rhine Valley. The focus is here be on the debate about nuclear cooling systems – and nuclear flooding risks – partly in relation to nuclear safety, and partly in relation to the cooling arrangements’ environmental impact. A large part of the source material in this PhD project will be in German language.

Αναλυτικές πληροφορίες: academicpositions.eu