Challenging Chernobyl’s Legacy: Nuclear Power Policies in Europe, Russia and North America in the Early Twenty-First Century

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the most important trends in nuclear power policies in the ‘old’ nuclear power states of Europe (including Eastern Europe and Russia) and North America, in order to put Asian developments in nuclear power policy into a broader context. The chapter starts out by briefly outlining the main features of the most dynamic period of nuclear expansion, starting in the mid-1960s and ending at the time of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The following section then discusses the political responses to this highly critical event, which led to a total stagnation in the expansion of nuclear energy. The main thrust of the chapter, however, is on the most recent trends in European and North American nuclear power policy. It discusses, in particular, the extent to and ways in which the ‘Chernobyl legacy’ is being overcome, and, if this is the case, whether this may pave the way for a new period of dynamism in the ‘old’ nuclear world. Sub–themes are the formal policies and strategies pursued by governments, the evolving actor landscape, investment policies and national capacities, and developments within the nuclear engineering industry. The last and concluding section summarises the findings.