Nuclear Power and Geography: How the European Communities Failed to Regulate the Siting of Nuclear Installations at Borders in the 1970s and 1980s

Abstract

Nuclear power plants require cooling water. When numerous nuclear plants were built in the 1970s, they were thus placed at major rivers. This caused cross-border problems, since in Europe, many rivers crossed or constituted borders. As awareness for thermal and radioactive pollution grew, border areas became hotbeds of European anti-nuclear protest. Advocates of European integration suggested that the European Communities (EC) were best positioned to resolve this issue. This article analyses the EC rulemaking attempts regarding the siting of nuclear power plants and explains why they failed. It argues that while the cross-border nature of the problem of nuclear installations at borders justified EC-level legal solutions, the geography of nuclear plants militated against supranational solutions - at a time of national vetoes and when energy security was considered a national sovereignty concern. The article is based on the analysis of primary sources from European Union and national archives. By taking the physical and political geography of nuclear energy into account, this article offers new perspectives on the role of borders and border studies, on the history of nuclear energy and society, and on the history of European integration.