Nuclear power in Denmark

Denmark imports but does not produce nuclear energy, which is in accordance with a 1985 law passed by the Danish parliament, prohibiting power production from nuclear energy in Denmark. In 2014 and 2015, (imported) nuclear power was 3-4% of electricity consumption in Denmark.

1940s - 1970s
Denmark was something of a latecomer to the nuclear field, due to American and British reluctance to allow Denmark’s most prominent scientist, Niels Bohr, to divulge the knowledge he gained during the Manhattan project, for reasons of nation security. Niels was acutely aware of this fact, and as the rest of the scientific establishment followed his lead at the time, very little progress was made up until the early 1950s. Following the 1953 “Atoms for Peace” speech, a relaxation in this tight control occurred.

In the mid-1950s, a sort of euphoric mood surrounded nuclear energy in most countries, with the same being experienced in Denmark. After a US sponsored campaign from the US Information Service called Atomet i Hverdagen (‘The Atom in Everyday Life’) in 1955, a majority of Danes thought atomic energy will be "more of a boon than a curse to mankind". In December 1955, Denmark established the permanent Atomenergikommissionen (Atomic Energy Commission, AEK), which commissioned the Risø Research Centre in 1957, with Bohr as its chairman. Its purpose was to pursue research into this new energy source. The institute attempted to develop its own reactor design (organic liquid cooled, heavy water moderated) called the DOR (Deuterium Organic Reactor), but failed to convince the Danish utilities to support it. Later attempts to partner with Sweden to develop a heavy water reactor also failed, due to a lack of collaboration and economic viability.

1970s - 1980s
The 1973 oil crisis brought the development of nuclear power in Denmark back into public focus. Concerned about the safety of nuclear power plants, their economics and the wider threat to world peace posed by nuclear technology, the Organisationen til Oplysning om Atomkraft (Organisation for Nuclear Information, OOA) was founded in the same year. They advocated for greater use of coal, natural and bio-gas, and more focus on the development of wind and solar technology, along with energy-saving measures. Part of their campaign was the creation of the "Smiling Sun" anti-nuclear symbol, which has since been used around the world. The campaign was highly successful, with extensive marches and pamphlet deliveries. Denmark banned the generation of electricity from nuclear reactors in 1985.

1980s - 2000s
Instead of building nuclear power, Denmark converted oil plants to coal and built new coal power plants so efficiently that for a number of years Denmark was the world's second largest importer of coal (11-12 million tons per year). The past decades, Denmark has focused on renewable energy sources such as wind energy to reduce the country's dependence on coal power. In 2007, about 11.4 TWh of electricity was exported and 10.4 TWh imported. Import from Sweden amounted 5 TWh, from Norway 3.9 TWh, and from Germany 1.5 TWh. Both Sweden and Germany have a portion of nuclear energy in their power production.

Beginning in 2003, three nuclear research reactors at the former Risø National Laboratory have been shut down, and are in the process of being dismantled. The reactors were named DR-1, DR-2 and DR-3, and had the following properties:

2010s - 2020s
The issue of introducing nuclear power in Denmark has, however, gained new flare-up since 2019, when COP-19 and the state of the climate showed that there is a global need for new or other energy sources that do not emit the same large amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gases as fossil fuels. The movement "Atomkraft, ja tak" has grown in membership and has received a lot of media coverage. [source missing] In August 2023, a Gallup poll showed that 55% of Denmark's population is positive for nuclear power compared to 26% against. The Technical University of Denmark reintroduced Danish research into nuclear power in 2024.

In 2015, two Danish companies Seaborg Technologies and Copenhagen Atomics were established. Both are private companies that work on the development of so-called molten salt reactors (MSR), where the fissile fuel is mixed in the molten salt, and have a significantly lower output effect than the conventional, commercially available nuclear power reactors. They are therefore smaller in size, and in both cases will be of modular construction (Small Modular Reactors (SMR)).

In March 2024 Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Lars Aagaard, announced that test reactors may be built in Denmark, provided that they do not produce electricity.