Nuclear Power and Climate Change: Construction and Consequences of a Geopolitical Rhetoric in France and Sweden

The political awakening to the climate- change issue in the 1980’s has durably destructured the antinuclear movements. Previously held as the highest global threat, atomic energy became a potential solution to the contemporary environmental challenges thanks to its low emissions of greenhouse gases. However, it appears that these upheavals have not identically impacted every country, as evidenced by the diversity of reactions after the Fukushima accident. Relying on the study of two highly nuclearized countries, France and Sweden, this article intends to analyze the consequences of the climate argument on the balance of power between actors of the conflict over atomic energy’s future. While in France, this new issue triggered an internal crisis within the antinuclear movement which did not structurally influence the conflict, it led in Sweden to a complete reorganization of the debate, thus facilitating the return of nuclear power in 2011 in the country.