Kärnkraft och lokal hållbarhet. En kvalitativ fallstudie om lokala upplevelser av Vattenfalls planerade etablering på Väröhalvön

Abstract

This thesis examines how residents in Bua, the closest urban area to the Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant, perceive the potential consequences of Vattenfall’s planned nuclear power expansion on the Värö-Peninsula. The study explores how local experiences are shaped by global discourses on sustainable energy transitions. By applying an environmental justice perspective, the study highlights tensions between global climate goals, national policies and local everyday experiences. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with local residents, complemented by observations from a public consultation meeting. The empirical material is analysed in the context of environmental justice through the theoretical concepts of slow violence, participation and energy justice. The results show a complex relationship between acceptance and concern. Several respondents discussed anxiety regarding the construction phase and the loss of local values, while simultaneously viewing the expansion as necessary and beneficial for the local development. Nuclear power was often understood as a natural and normalized part of the local landscape and identity. The results show that participation was perceived as limited by expert-driven, technical language and uncertainty regarding actual influence in decision-making. This paper will be written in Swedish