6533b7d3fe1ef96bd1260b63

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Not excluding nuclear power: the dynamics and stability of nuclear power policy arrangements in Finland

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In this article, we aim at using the policy arrangement approach to explain the renewal of nuclear power policy in Finland from 1986 to 2010. From the point of view of national nuclear power decision making, we distinguish three different policy arrangement periods: (1) rejection (1986–1993), (2) revival (1994–2002) and (3) renewal (2003–2010). Within each period, the four dimensions which are, such as policy coalitions, ‘rules of the game’, policy discourses and resources are analysed. The three periods indicate that policy development has not been unilinear. In the rejection period, the ‘shock event’ of Chernobyl mixed up the policy arrangement. For example, the supporting coalition was temporarily paralysed, the political effectiveness of discourses changed and the anti-nuclear coalition found new resources. In the revival period, liberalisation and deregulation of electricity markets altered the formal rules of the game. A new energy policy of not excluding nuclear power was formulated, in which nucle...