This book explores how anti-nuclear social movements impact the states civil nuclear policy and its implementation by presenting a historical-comparative case study of anti-nuclear movements in India.

Drawing on social movement theory and empirical methods, the book demonstrates that the ability for anti-nuclear movements to impede the inception of nuclear plants a key element of Indias civil nuclear policy is determined by the movements collective action repertoires, the politicisation of nuclear power and the states larger developmental paradigm, and the openness of state input structures. The case studies of anti-nuclear movements in Haripur, Kudankulam and Kovvada demonstrate how the implementation of civil nuclear policy is also determined by the states technical and financial capacity and effective international collaboration.

With a focus on theorisation of social movements and their impact, combined with empirical studies of anti-nuclear movements, as well as the historical trajectory of civil nuclear development, the book adds a new prism to the study of Indias civil nuclear policy and anti-nuclear opposition. It will be of interest to researchers working on social movements, state-society relations, energy studies and civil nuclear energy in the context of South Asia and the Global South.