Starting in the mid-1990s, many nuclear experts came to believe that an expansion of nuclear power or, at the very least, a retention of existing capacity was inevitable. The reason is simple: governments have been setting themselves increasingly ambitious targets in terms of reductions in future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Achieving these targets will be expensive. It will require a decarbonisation of electricity generation coupled with complete electrification of transport and heating. Renewable generators will be introduced, no doubt, but it would make no sense to abandon an existing carbon-free source of energy, especially if its contribution is significant. On a more theoretical level, the very nature of much renewable energy — low intensity and intermittent — suggests an incompatibility with industrialised societies where people concentrate in mega-cities and follow lifestyles that require secure and adequate electricity supplies. In addition to this, the rate of progress in installing renewables has been less than expected due, in part, to public resistance. These and other factors caused a number of governments to turn to nuclear power — reluctantly perhaps in view of the continuing antipathy of the public. According to a 2010 Eurobarometer26 (field work September-October 2009) all those concerns that were raised by the early opponents still carry weight today: safety of operation, disposal, diversion of nuclear materials, lack of trust or confidence in the operators and regulators. But to these concerns is now added the possibility of terrorism with 52% of respondents thinking that nuclear power plants are not sufficiently secured against terrorist attacks. Overall, more than 50% of Europeans still believe that the risks of nuclear power outweigh the benefits.

This growing (if grudging) acceptance that future energy supplies must include a nuclear component was undermined by the Fukushima accident of March 2011. Thus, a number of countries that were tentatively moving towards life extensions or new NPPs have now rejected nuclear power outright. Here we examine the range of responses to the climate challenge and the Fukushima accident by describing four case histories.