Contending narratives on the sustainability of nuclear energy in Turkey

Abstract

Sustainable development recently topped the universal agenda again when the United Nations adopted its Sustainable Development Goals on 25 September 2015. Yet, since the 1990s, the concept has prompted different actors to reformulate their relations with the environment in line with different narratives on the concept. This inherent contradiction becomes all the more salient during sustainable development debates on nuclear, which has often been dominated by the expert-oriented politics prioritizing carbon-free economic growth by “post-politicizing” the issue at stake. In this light, the main objective of this paper is to contribute to nuclear related literature stressing on broader conceptions of sustainability by going beyond those techno-economic discussions. Hinging on the multi-faceted nature of Turkey’s nuclear energy debate, this paper argues that multitude of state and non-state discourse coalitions (i.e. nuclear advocacy, nuclear opposition and ambivalent) has constructed sustainability of nuclear differently through their narratives. To substantiate its argument, through a narrative analysis, this paper examines competing narratives over nuclear energy’s economic, environmental and societal impacts in Turkey. The findings have challenged pro-nuclear techno-economic discourse coalition’s attempt to “post-politicize” Turkish nuclear debate by revealing complex and multi-faceted nature of the debate.