Nordic Cooperation in the Nuclear Safety Sector: High, Low, or Differentiated Integration?

Nordic cooperation has been depicted as eroding due to the increased importance of EU-related cooperation and integration. However, scholars propose that longstanding Nordic networks, grounded in professions and located in the state administration, may prove to be more robust toward external changes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politics and Governance
Main Author: Kjerstin Kjøndal
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cogitatio 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3292
https://doaj.org/article/77a0207b973b4d309c49f5217486f0bc
Description
Summary:Nordic cooperation has been depicted as eroding due to the increased importance of EU-related cooperation and integration. However, scholars propose that longstanding Nordic networks, grounded in professions and located in the state administration, may prove to be more robust toward external changes. This article discusses this proposal by looking at Nordic cooperation between the national radiation protection and nuclear safety authorities in Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The article maps behavioural perceptions of agency staff based on a dataset of 37 interviews to illustrate if the cooperation between the Nordic authorities is characterized by high integration, low integration, or differentiated integration within the nuclear safety sector. The study finds that the cooperation is differentiated between the highly integrated areas of radiation protection and emergency preparedness, and the less integrated areas of nuclear security and safeguards. To account for variation, the data indicates the importance of path dependency and portfolio.