ABSTRACT
In 1986 the accident at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union established nuclear power as a major international issue. In politics there can sometimes be pinpointed a moment when an issue moves from consensus to conflict. The development of nuclear energy had enjoyed support from the main political parties and had met little resistance from communities which welcomed the prospect of economic benefits from investment. Developments in these four elements of conflict — legitimacy, accountability, the political environment and the international dimension — explain the transition from consensus to conflict over nuclear power. The claim that Sellafield is the ‘dirtiest plant in the world’ — responsible for 1000 times more radioactive effluent than any other European nation and one million times more than reprocessing plants in the United States — was made at the International Water Tribunal in Rotterdam. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
