Nuclear Concern, Identity, and Vulnerability

Abstract Book of the 7th International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality

Year: 2026

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Nuclear Concern, Identity, and Vulnerability

Helen Wilds

ABSTRACT:

A radical shift in thinking must take place to address global climate change and environmental degradation. Shifting to renewable energy sources is often at the heart of this discussion. Despite its reliance on non-renewable resources, nuclear power is often touted as a renewable energy source in what is being called the “Nuclear Renaissance.” While nuclear power generation continues to increase, research points to the public’s consistent low support of this growth. Scholarship also points to well-known divides in public support, such as the gendered divide in nuclear energy support, where women are much less supportive of growing nuclear power production. Moreover, communities made vulnerable by existing power structures are now being selected for siting of controversial fourth-generation power plants, known as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). Conducting a literature review of current nuclear energy studies, I examine the current landscape of nuclear power studies centered on public support with an emphasis on identity, vulnerability, and place related to nuclear power. I suggest a gap exists in nuclear concern literature that can be filled with a focus on critical scholarship that considers intersectional and decolonial research and frames nuclear concern as a critical environmental justice issue.

Keywords: Climate Change; Critical Environmental Justice; Eco-Gender Gap; Intersectionality; Nuclear Energy