The Anti-Nuclear Power Movement and Discourses of Energy Justice

This study analyzes anti-nuclear power organizations’ claims regarding public financing for new nuclear construction, issues associated with the management of high-level radioactive waste, and other campaigns to increase the safety of nuclear facilities. This leads the author to the identification of general principals of energy justice.

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The Anti-Nuclear Power Movement and Discourses of Energy Justice critically analyzes the movement for a carbon-free and nuclear-free energy future in the U.S. using an environmental justice framework. Jesse P. Van Gerven explores how different social and environmental justice discourses are constructed through the claims of social movement organizations. This study shows how ideas of distribution, recognition, and representation structure the arguments made by anti-nuclear groups against the production of nuclear power. Through critical analyses of the claims made by the anti-nuclear power movement in the U.S., as well as analyses of the historical and structural context these claims emerged from, the author identifies general principals of energy justice. These principles can help guide future energy policy and energy system development to ensure social and environmental justice.