Abstract
The chapter introduces the main research questions of the present volume: Why do nations make different decisions on nuclear energy and why some of the decisions are upheld but others reversed. To illustrate the relevance of the research question, the chapter outlines the history of nuclear energy that has gone through ups and downs and displays great inter-country variation. It gives particular attention to the two most recent periods of ‘nuclear revival’ (beginning in the late 1990s/early 2000s) and then the post-Fukushima bifurcation of national nuclear energy policies in which many countries stick to their path whereas others make reversals. The chapter identifies the international drivers of nuclear energy policy – factors that influence all countries to varying degrees depending very much on context constellations. The chapter concludes with a plan of the book.
Translated title of the contribution | Atomenergie in Westeuropa: Rivival oder Ablehnung? Eine Einleitung |
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Original language | English |
Title of host publication | The Politics of Nuclear Energy in Western Europe |
Editors | Wolfgang C. Müller, Paul W. Thurner |
Place of Publication | Oxford |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 1-20 |
Number of pages | 21 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-0-19-874703-1 |
Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 506001 General theory of the state
- 506004 European integration
Keywords
- Nuclear energy
- party competition
- energy policy