Over the past thirty years the Canadian nuclear industry has enjoyed an enormous degree of support from the public purse. Even today, in a climate of grave public uncertainty about the use of nuclear power, it receives the lion’s share of all government research and development funds in the energy field. Yet although the State provides the leadership and the research money, once a sector of the industry proves to be profitable, it is left in the hands of private interests.
Ronald Babin sees in all this the emergence of a new power elite: an elite that worships technological progress and considers its monopoly on certain kinds of technological knowledge as its credentials to rule over the development patterns of Canadian society. This technocratic power has not gone unchallenged, however. The forces of opposition- ecologists, unionists, feminists, local community groups, pacifists- stand a fair chance of success, Babin feels, if they can truly unite to articulate an appropriate social analysis and policy.
In this translation of L’Option nucleaire, the author details the history of each side in the conflict, all the white offering a unifying interpretation: that the stakes of the game go far beyond the question of energy policy. The Nuclear Power Game, in fact, argues powerfully that behind the conflict over nuclear energy lie more fundamental issues and choices- ones which could well shape the future of our society.
“A careful and lucid analysis of nuclear power and why it deserves our protests”.--Kingston Whig-Standard
“A remarkable demonstration of the emergence of technocratic power”.--Le Devoir, Montreal
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Gordon Edwards
IntroductionPart One: The Birth and Development of an Industry
1. Historical Overview: The British-American conflict; The British-Canadian accord; The tripartite project; Canada’s ‘peaceful’ programme; C.D. Howe and the Canadian economy; The nuclear programme gets going; The CANDU becomes industrially operational; The technological leap forward
2. The Performers and Their Roles: The Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB); Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL); Uranium production; The provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, The other provinces; The industrial sector; Public administration; The basic ideology of the nuclear establishment
3. The Politics of Nuclear Power: Federal-provincial relations; Export policy; The impasse
Part Two: The Protest Movement
4. The Origins of Antinuclear Protest: The alternative lifestyle/ecology movement; The peace movement
5. The Performers Meet Their Critics: Eco-cultural protest; Scientific criticism; Community groups; Challenging the institutions; Political involvement; Birth of a social movement
6. Political and Social Organization: Towards a public energy debate; Alliance with other social forces; Eco-feminism; Ecologists and pacifism
Conclusion
Appendices
I: Chronology of Nuclear Power Development in Canada
II: AECB Presidents and Members
III: Gallup Polls on Nuclear Power
IV: Chronology of Canadian Antinuclear ProtestSymbols and Abbreviations
Bibliography
Dr. Ronald Babin is a researcher in the department de sociologie, Universite de Montreal.
Dr. Gordon Edwards teaches mathematics at Vanier College in Montreal and is chairperson of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
236 pages, bibliography
Paperback ISBN: 0-920057-31-4 $14.99
Hardcover ISBN: 0-920057-30-6 $43.99
1985
