P U S https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662516662738 Public Understanding of Science 2017, Vol. 26(3) 289–306 © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0963662516662738 journals.sagepub.com/home/pus Imaginaries of nuclear energy in the Portuguese parliament: Between promise, risk, and democracy Tiago Santos Pereira University of Coimbra, Portugal António Carvalho University School of Arts of Coimbra, Portugal; University of Coimbra, Portugal Paulo F.C. Fonseca Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil Abstract This article explores the evolution of the nuclear energy debate and its associated controversies in the Portuguese parliament. The analysis focuses on the dictatorial regime of the New State (from the beginning of the nuclear program in 1951 until the 1974 revolution) and on the democratic period (post-1974). Portugal, as an exporting country of uranium minerals, significantly invested in the development of a national capacity in nuclear research, but never developed an endogenous nuclear power infrastructure. Through the analysis of parliamentary debates, this article characterizes the dynamic evolution of the Portuguese sociotechnical imaginary on nuclear energy and technology interlinked with ambivalent representations, including the promise of nuclear energy as key for the constitution of a technological Nation or as prompting new sociotechnical risks. Keywords energy policy, governance of science and technology, nuclear energy, participation in science policy, representations of science 1. Introduction Although not materialized in concrete and melting atoms, the Portuguese Nuclear Plant has been part of people’s concerns and expectations for a long time, and this issue has influenced the Portuguese political agenda over the last half-century. While in the dictatorial period of the New Corresponding author: António Carvalho, Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Praça Dom Dinis, Coimbra 3000-995, Portugal. Email: antoniomanuelcarvalho@gmail.com 662738PUS 0 0 10.1177/0963662516662738Public Understanding of ScienceSantos Pereira et al. research-article 2016 Article