Anti-nuclear movement in France

France began a nuclear power program in the 1950s and announced a shift to the Westinghouse light water reactor in 1969. Following the 1973 oil crisis, the government announced a dramatic increase in planned nuclear capacity. These major decisions were put forward as a fait accompli, with no opportunity for meaningful parliamentary debate. An intense extra-parliamentary opposition, of citizens' groups and political action committees, emerged. In the 1970s, there were many large and dramatic anti-nuclear protests and demonstrations in France.

Further reading

• Nelkin, Dorothy and Michael Pollak (1982). The Atom Beseiged: Antinuclear Movements in France and Germany, ASIN: B0011LXE0A