Last weekend marked a milestone: 40 years ago, Denmark banned nuclear power over ... vibes.

Since then 🇩🇰
🏭 Burned coal for decades
❌ Helped shut down reactors abroad
🤫 Quietly imported nuclear
🤥 Became a climate hypocrite

This is the story of one of the most self-defeating energy policies.

It was a Friday. March 29, 1985, Danish politicians gave in to fear and misinformation. Led by the Social Democrats, supported by the Socialist People’s Party. They banned nuclear power entirely. The anti-nuclear movement had won. But the climate lost.

With nuclear off the table, Denmark burned coal. Then more coal. Then natural gas and biomass. For decades, Denmark’s grid was dirtier than almost any of its neighbors. Even one of the dirtiest in the EU.

Still is.

While Denmark was burning coal, Sweden built reactors and slashed emissions, which now has one of the cleanest grids in the world. 10 times cleaner than Denmark’s:

CO₂e / kWh
Denmark: 173 g
Sweden: 18 g

Denmark didn’t just ban nuclear at home. It tried to kill it abroad. The Swedish Barsebäck plant, just 20 km from Copenhagen, was politically targeted by Denmark for decades. Result? Two working reactors were prematurely shut down because of pressure from Denmark.

And here’s the most ridiculous part: Denmark uses nuclear power. It just imports it. A big chunk of Danish electricity at times comes from Sweden, where over 40% of generation is nuclear. So… no nukes at home, but imported when convenient.

The same goes for Germany. When Denmark can’t import clean nuclear from Sweden or hydro from Norway, it buys German coal power instead. Once German nuclear, but we now how that went. Burning coal to “stay nuclear-free.” Make it make sense.

Denmark’s 1985 nuclear ban was never about science. It was about fear, politics, and vibes. 40 years later, it’s time to lift the ban!

[Text by Johan Christian Sollid as posted on twitter]