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Before & After: The Swedish referendum (1980)

AuteurPer Ragnarson
Datumjuli 1980
Classificatie 2.07.0.00/04 (ZWEDEN - ALGEMEEN)
Voorkant

Uit de publicatie:

On March 23, 1980, the residents of Sweden voted in their first popular referendum* 
on advanced technology. They were asked their opinion on whether or not Sweden, 
which in the late 1960s became a leading nation in nuclear power technology, 
should continue to use this controversial energy source.

It was not a question of whether or not Sweden should enter the "atomic age". 
This choice had been taken de facto about 15 years earlier by technologists and 
by Parliament, amidst a near-total lack of public interest in energy supply matters 
as a social issue.

But in the early 70s the use of nuclear energy was increasingly questioned, and it 
evolved into a political matter. Among the supporters of nuclear power were the 
Social Democrats and the Liberal and Conservative parties, whereas the Center and 
Communist parties came out against further expansion of Sweden's nuclear power 
facilities.

After the non-socialist election victory of September 1976, in which energy policy 
was a dominant issue and Center party leader Thorbjörn Fälldin scored a success 
with his anti-nuclear stance, the next two or three years were marked by continuous 
disputes on energy issues. In late 1978 these led to the collapse of the three-party 
non-socialist government. It was succeeded by a minority Liberal Cabinet that relied 
on the promise of support from the Social Democrats and Conservatives to push 
through a government bill calling for a cautious expansion of nuclear power.

*Referendums are rare in Sweden. Only three have been held before - on alcohol 
policy, a pension reform and the switch to right-hand traffic. Constitutionally they 
have only a consultative function but in the case of the forthcoming nuclear 
referendum all the parliamentary parties have declared that they will abide by 
the outcome.

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