Energy carriers and energy transitions - then and now - missed opportunities - ethics of nuclear power

Symposium Energy carriers and energy transitions - then and now - missed opportunities - ethics of nuclear power

Topics

1. The Energy Transition in the Netherlands: a worrying development by Ir. Arie Quik
2. Ethics of Nuclear Energy beyond "yes" or "no" by Prof. Dr Behnam Taebi
3. Energy carriers and energy transitions from 1750 to 2050 - Part IIIB (final) by Ir. drs. Fred van Iddekinge
4. Discussions

Chairman of the day: Prof Genserik Reniers

Speakers and topics

1.the energy transition in the Netherlands: a worrying development
How is it possible for sensible people and policymakers to make such far-reaching and potentially damaging choices? What is going wrong and how can it be done better?
The energy transition in the Netherlands - and worldwide - is failing on several fronts. We experience it every day: 4,000 New companies are waiting for a connection to the grid, further construction of offshore wind is at a complete standstill for the time being, politicians and businesses are coming to the realisation that it will all be far too expensive.
A number of people knew this years ago. Had the decision-making process then been based on the international standard ISO 31000 for risk and process management, much misery could have been avoided. The consequences of policy failures are borne disproportionately by people with lower incomes. They pay the price for managerial mistakes and lack of long-term vision.

2.ethics of Nuclear Energy beyond "yes" or "no"
Professor Behnam Taebi studied Technical Materials Science and received his PhD from TU Delft in 2010 on research into the ethics of nuclear energy. He also conducted research at Harvard University's Belfer Center, where he built a solid relationship with the US research institute on ethics of engineering, especially justice in multinational nuclear waste storage. His research interests include energy ethics and energy justice, nuclear ethics and Socially Responsible Innovation.

3. Energy Carriers and Energy Transitions from 1750 to 2050 - Part IIIB (final)
The lecture is the conclusion of a triptych on the topic of Energy Carriers and Energy Transitions from 1750 to 2050. Earlier parts were presented at KIVI-RBT (mini) symposia of 5 November 2021, 22 April 2022 and 24 March 2023, respectively. After a brief summary of the previous parts of the triptych, attention is paid to the risk aspect of changing energy carriers, or, in other words, an energy transition. In the past, an energy transition almost always led to an improvement in both individual and collective welfare, process safety and reduction of environmental pollution. Since 2018, the Netherlands is no longer a net exporter but a net importer of natural gas. On 1 October 2023, natural gas extraction at Slochteren was permanently terminated. This and the high price paid for imported natural gas does not benefit our balance of payments or our industrial climate. In recent years, more and more political influences on the use of individual energy carriers in Europe (and the Netherlands in particular) are also playing a role. This does not make careful consideration with sufficient attention to redundancy and diversity of energy carriers in the (near) future any easier. In addition, the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe (and the rapidly changing world order due to a trade war unleashed this year) entails unprecedented embargoes on the deployment of various energy carriers. "Acting politically correct" here is often at odds with "acting economically correct". Despite all these complications, the speaker will try to outline a risk-averse deployment of energy carriers available to us until 2050 while respecting national and international commitments we have made. He will discuss a responsible mix of energy carriers in 2050.

Timetable and names of nominations

The speakers

Ir. Arie Quik
Arie Quik (1945) studied Applied Physics at TU Delft. He worked in the chemical and food industries as project manager, process manager, interim manager and incident manager. He set up and calamity plan for a grid manager, designed quality systems and incident systems. A lot of experience abroad. His style is characterised by allowing people in all layers of the hierarchy to decide for themselves how to fit their tasks into the procedures. Soundness and consistency of procedures, but also flexibility and adaptation to constant changes. Arie was secretary and co-founder of the KIVI Risk Management and Engineering Department.

Prof Dr Behnam Taebi
Behnam Taebi (1977) is professor of Energy and Climate Ethics and scientific director of the Climate Safety & Security centre (CaSS) at Delft University of Technology. Taebi is editor-in-chief of the professional journal 'Science and Engineering Ethics', co-editor of a book on 'The Ethics of Nuclear Energy' and author of a monograph on 'Ethics and Engineering. An introduction.' He is a member of the Scientific Climate Council (WKR), which advises the government and parliament on climate policy. He also contributed to the report 'Fissile material' published by the Council for Environment and Infrastructure (Rli) in 2022 on nuclear energy in the Netherlands. A recent publication is an article by him in the NRC of 4 November 2025.

Ir. drs. Frederik Willem van Iddekinge
Fred van Iddekinge (1946) is a board member and acting coordinator/secretary of the Risk Management and Technology Division (KIVI-RBT)
He studied chemistry and nuclear technology at TU Delft. At EUR, he obtained an MBA 10 years later. He worked in education and research and as a chemical engineer in the process industry. He then worked for over 25 years as a coordinating nuclear safety inspector of the Nuclear Physics Department (KFD, now ANVS: Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority) at, successively, SZW, VROM and ILT. He has 20 years of experience at the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), in recent years as a board member of various working groups, worked for six years as a risk and safety specialist, held numerous ancillary positions, such as rapporteur on incidents and safety to the Dutch parliament, member of the KIVI Members' Council, board member of the Nuclear Technology Division (KIVI-NT). He lived in the United States for 3 years and worked in England for 2 years.

Prof. dr. ir. Genserik Reniers
Genserik Reniers (1974) is professor of Safety of Hazardous Materials at TU Delft. The civil chemical engineer and PhD in Applied Economics also teaches at the Brussels Campus of KU Leuven and is also a visiting professor at the University of Antwerp. He acquired his passion for safety during his PhD research on clustered safety culture in the chemical industry. "During debates with colleagues and people from the industry, I saw how multidisciplinary the subject of Safety is and how widespread it is. At that moment, I was gripped by the safety virus. Since 9/11, security has been added to that. After all, the essence is the same: dealing with uncertainty. My field of research is enormously broad. There is always something new to learn and that makes it fascinating. Moreover, there are many interfaces with other disciplines, such as chemistry, engineering, psychology and economics, all passions of mine as well."