Casey Morell

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Alcock, Frank

Keywords

Nuclear Power, Nuclear Energy, Chernobyl

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

This thesis seeks to analyze the evolution of nuclear energy policy in France, Germany, Sweden and the United States. These four countries were chosen because of their relatively common socio-economic and political traits, and because they are all major producers of nuclear power. While they were early adopters of the technology when it was introduced, these countries have taken divergent paths when it comes to how nuclear power is used within their borders at present. Various key elements were analyzed to determine their effect on nuclear energy policy, including political opportunity structures, the salience of environmental movements and issues in each country as reflected through opinion polling and electoral processes, and the economic drivers behind nuclear power development. While political opportunity structures may play a minor role in environmental movements' efficacy, public opinion polling is too volatile a variable to be considered. Economic factors, especially the industrial structures of utility grids (i.e., whether utilities are nationalized or privately owned), were far and away the most influential of these factors analyzed to explain overall nuclear power development. Countries featuring state-owned utilities are more likely to have a robust nuclear power infrastructure than those with privatized electric grids.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

Download

Share

COinS