Energy Research & Social Science 22 (2016) 94–106 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy Research & Social Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/erss Original research article The role of sustainability in nuclear energy plans—What do national energy strategies tell us? Fabienne Gralla a,b,* , Beatrice John b , David J. Abson c,f , Anders P. Møller d , Manuel Bickel e , Daniel J. Lang b,f , Henrik von Wehrden a,f,g a Centre of Methods, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany b Institute for Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany c Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany d Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, CNRS UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 362, F-91405, Orsay Cedex, France e Institute of Sustainability Governance, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany f FuturES Research Center, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany g Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 21 December 2015 Received in revised form 12 September 2016 Accepted 13 September 2016 Keywords: Energy strategy Nuclear energy countries Nuclear energy Sustainability a b s t r a c t Energy supply and use play vital roles in transition towards a sustainable society. Nuclear energy is used or planned to be used in 40 countries globally, yet the contribution of nuclear energy to sustainable development remains an area of contention. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand the framing of sustainability within national energy strategies of countries pursuing or planning to start nuclear energy production. The strategies were analyzed by assessing the occurrence of 56 facets of sus- tainability grouped into 7 dimensions. In addition, the definitions of sustainability used in the strategies and the information on consultation and public participation in their preparation was reviewed. Most strategies mentioned sustainability but did not provide its explicit definition. Risk, waste management and social aspects of sustainability were mentioned relatively less frequently than to environmental, gov- ernance and economic aspects of sustainability. The information on consultation and public participation portrayed a limited extent of such processes. © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Following the Brundtland commission’s definition of sustain- able development [1], the global energy demands of the current generation should be satisfied without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their energy needs. Yet, projections suggest that the aggregate global energy demand will increase by approximately 37% between 2014 and 2050 [2], with energy being identified as one of the key sustainability challenges of the 21st century [3]. At the national level, countries use diverse energy strategies to tackle this challenge, often claiming sustainable energy transitions to be their main motivation. However, multi- ple aspects of energy governance [4] intersect with the normative goals of sustainability and “clearly defined facets of sustainabil- ity” for assessing energy policy are lacking [5]. Hence, different * Corresponding author at: Centre of Methods, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany. E-mail address: fabienne.gralla@leuphana.de (F. Gralla). governments can appraise the same energy sources very differently (from a sustainability perspective). For example, nuclear energy is considered a sustainable option in South Korea [6], but is excluded from sustainable energy strategies [7] in countries like Denmark [8] or Austria [9]. Here it is important to note that sustainability is an inherently normative notion, determined by underlying values and ethics. The overall aim of energy policy should be to produce affordable and clean energy, (as defined in the Sustainable Development Goals [3]), however, how this goal is achieved depends not only on a countries capacity to act, but also the strategy and vision that guide such actions. The term “strategy” is widely applied within management studies [10–12], as well as to describe political non-binding doc- uments (e.g. the Lisbon Strategy [13], a development plan for the economy within the EU). An energy strategy might not be binding for a country, however, it shows the objectives, goals and targets for long-term actions, a direction of the energy policy agenda. There- fore, terms and wording used in the national energy strategies provides some insights into national perspectives on important issues regarding energy supply. We consider an analysis of energy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.09.003 2214-6296/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.