A Critical Juncture in Danish Energy Transition? The Role of the Renewed Nuclear Energy Narrative

The historic opposition in Denmark to nuclear energy resulted in the parliament banning nuclear power in 1985. Subsequently Danish government have focused on energy transition mainly through investment in wind power og solar panels, whilst the discussion about nuclear power have remained silent for several decades. However, new actors have restarted the narrative about nuclear energy, this time as a solution to meeting the 2050 climate target facilitating the energy transition and creating energy security. The decades long ban on nuclear energy means that Denmark has not developed competences in nuclear energy neither industrial or research at the universities, indeed the Risø research site has closed its nuclear testing facilities. The Danish energy policy literature does not mention nuclear energy instead the existing scholarship centres on Danish energy policy focus on renewables energies, climate and energy leadership, energy planning and energy governance more broadly. In short, the existing scholarship reflects the developments in Danish energy transition and climate policy. In recent years the nuclear energy discourse has resurfaces and opposite previous public debates the new actors advocate for investment in nuclear energy. One of the main protagonists is Lars Rebien Søresen, chairman for Novo Nordic foundation, which gives out research funding initially in health but now also in food and green transition. A new alliance of business associations, trade unions and universities including Novo Nordic Foundation have created the “Kernekraft Alliance” to promote nuclear energy in Denmark. Furthermore, a few political parties on the right have joined the discourse supporting nuclear energy over renewable energy like solar panels and windmills. Just as there are a small number of companies trying to develop small modular nuclear reactors. Overall, these actors represent important economic interests, and they have successfully been able to introduce a nuclear energy narrative into the Danish energy transition and climate policy discussions. As a reaction to the nuclear energy narrative, incumbent energy actors and some academics argue that it is too late to introduce nuclear energy into the energy mix because a potential nuclear powerplant will not be ready in time for Denmark’s 2050 climate goal, which stipulates that Denmark must be climate neutral in 2050. This begs the question: how influential is the new narrative of nuclear energy for Danish energy politics? And does the nuclear energy narrative provide a critical juncture in Danish energy transition? This paper uses discursive institutionalism to analyse the new narrative of nuclear energy in Danish energy politics discourses to assess to what extent this narrative reflects a critical juncture in Danish energy transition focusing om the role of the new actors in influencing energy politics. Overall, the paper argues that the actors behind the nuclear energy narrative represent strong economic interests that enable them to keep the narrative in the public sphere, yet the potential for introducing nuclear energy in Denmark is currently limited due to its existing energy transition trajectory.