How Germany learned to hate nuclear power
Paul Hockenos
Germany's move to phase out nuclear power isn’t the reaction of a spooked people to Fukushima, but the product of an anti-nuclear consensus rooted in 1970s activism.
An anti-nuclear protest in German city Hannover (Image copyright: ohallmann)
The fact that Germany, in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, redoubled its efforts to phase out nuclear energy has nothing to do with hysteria or post-war angst. On the contrary, a majority of Germans, including much of the political class, has been unconvinced of its merits since the early 1980s; the source of this anti-atom consensus lies not in emotional populism but rather in the persuasive, fact-based arguments of a powerful, grassroots social movement that has long included nuclear physicists and other bona fide experts.
Of the many misconceptions that cloud the perception of Germany’s energy stand, one is that Germany is somehow on its own in Europe, on the fringe of the continent’s mainstream. In fact, Ireland, Austria and Norway dismissed the nuclear option years ago. Greece, Portugal, Italy and Denmark don’t and will never have atomic power plants. Like Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium are in the process of phasing out nuclear power. Spain has banned the construction of new reactors.
In terms of popular opinion, over 80% of Germans oppose nuclear energy, a figure that climbed higher in the wake of Fukushima and is comparatively high in Europe. But 90% of Austrians object to the nuclear option, and Austria even has no-nukes enshrined in its constitution. In 2011, 94% of Italians voted against nuclear power in a popular referendum. And then, of course, there are the pro-nuclear nations, led by France and the Czech Republic, where 68% and 67% of citizens respectively are in favour. (In the US the figure is 70%.)
