Nuclear power struggles after Chernobyl: The case of West Germany

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This article analyses the nuclear power controversy in West Germany since the Chernobyl accident. After briefly summarising the previous history of the controversy, it focuses on the responses to Chernobyl by government, parties, the general public, and the protest movement. Three factors are stressed to explain why despite society‐wide mobilisation the quest for a nuclear moratorium failed. First, the growth of the nuclear power sector was already completed, minimising the stakes of conflict. Second, the nuclear opposition became deeply split over goals and strategies. Third, the CDU/FDP coalition government remained steadfastly pro‐nuclear. Finally, the probable conflict trajectory in the 1990s is considered, taking into account the abandonment in 1989 of the fuel reprocessing project at Wackersdorf.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: