The "nuclear renaissance" : the changing discourse of atomic energy and the paradox of the green atom

Abstract

The author has granted a nonexclusive license allowing Library and Archives Canada to reproduce, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the Internet, loan, distribute and sell theses worldwide, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, in microform, paper, electronic and/or any other formats. L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou autres formats. The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. In compliance with the Canadian Privacy Act some supporting forms may have been removed from this thesis. While these forms may be included in the document page count, their removal does not represent any loss of content from the thesis. Conformement d la loi canadienne sur la protection de la vie privee, quelques formulaires secondares ont ete enleves de cette th&se. Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. M CanadaThis thesis will explore the relationship between discourse and democracy by examining the evolution of nuclear energy politics in Canada. It will document the rise and fall of a Canadian anti-nuclear movement and make a case for why this movement has not been revived to correspond to what have been the beginnings of a marked expansion of nuclear power in recent years. It will argue that the central reason for this relative lack of opposition is the current framing of nuclear power is highly compelling because it presents atomic energy as the panacea for the dual problems of energy scarcity and climate change. The broad public appeal and acceptance of this framing has created a new and dominant discourse around nuclear power.The dominance of this discourse has reduced the space for the counter-arguments that, in the past, accompanied the claims made in favour of nuclear energy. In effect, this has worked to de-politicize a once controversial topic, and consequently, has reduced the scope for investigation into the relative merits and shortcomings of the nuclear sector. The evolution of nuclear discourse, from a complicated and multi-faceted discussion into a single dominant rationale, and the consequent limiting of debate are problematic because they hinder critical examination and active public involvement in the issue. This demonstrates the profound impact that discourse can have on the processes of public policy and the gaining...