As Denmark continues to struggle with its vulnerabilities caused by energy insecurity, ban on nuclear energy, and overdependence on Russia’s thermal resources after the 2022-23 energy crisis, the looming concern of not achieving its carbon goals for the year 2050, and procurement of SMRs still grapples with its environmental policies and energy doctrines.

Denmark’s overdependence on wind, solar, and Russian gas has made its energy model unsustainable.

The trilogy of enigmas in Denmark, triggered more by the Russia-Ukraine War, led to an increasingly unstable domestic environment in the country with a heightened political climate as electricity prices, shortfalls, and power outages gripped the country’s energy sector.  With domestic frustration on the rise, Denmark took a bold step of revisiting its 1985 ban on nuclear energy, and hinted at a potential outsourcing of energy producers that do not align with regional energy and climate trends.

However, the country’s heavy reliance on wind and solar energy, combined with gas and coal, remains an issue as the country needs a hybrid model with a solidified integration of heavy-blown energy producers to avert potential national setbacks. The shift of Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden and Norway, to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) that generate 300MW of electricity, has become a crucial dynamic in the region’s energy trends and power transformations.

With Denmark holding onto an energy tightrope with both energy impracticalities and mitigating possibilities, the regional trendline shift towards emerging technologies to produce energy and limit interdependence remains an imperative for the Nordic region to avert the shackles of regional energy instabilities.

After facing nuclear devastation like Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island, the international security analysts decided to argue about state-of-the-art nuclear reactors to operationalize functions adeptly and reduce the possibility of nuclear disasters. The sharp effect of human perception after nuclear accidents compelled the world to opt for smart, small, and scalable reactors that would be multi-purpose, flexible, and with low-cost maintenance exercises with operationalized reliability.

This entire phenomenon of drastic social and political transformation, with a shifting focus to SMRs, falls directly under the theoretical lens of Social Construction of Technology, or SCOT, which further dissects it into ontological studies in sociotechnological frameworks.

Social Construction of Technology explains how SMRs must align with society’s values and political priorities.

The Critical Technology Studies (CTS) offers SCOT as a post-structuralist model to understand how societies shape the trajectory and re-contextualize graphics of any emerging technology that enters different realms of social vantage points. This regional shift in procuring SMRs and other emerging technologies aims to dispel the risks associated with proliferation, environmental degradation, and power blackouts that can disrupt national fault lines.

The famous blackout in Southern Europe became another concern for states that rely on traditional practices of electricity generation. Constant malfunctions of legacy grids and the loss of efficiency to recover swiftly from power outages have become a repetitive cycle with escalatory outcomes as states suffer at every level of social infrastructure.

The aging structure of power generation tools, outdated electricity policies, inadequate learning, and operational overload all contribute to frequent electricity blackouts and shortfalls. For Denmark, these regional sirens blare near its energy infrastructure and echo a revolutionary shift in its policies, practices, and postures related to energy doctrines.

Integrating SMRs into energy doctrines like Sweden and Norway acts as a textbook study for the country to narrow down its options and create a system of hybridity instead of solely relying on wind or solar energy, which make up almost 60% of the electricity production, but depend on weather patterns.

As social demands ring bells, social constructivists aim for a co-construction of this sophisticated technology with a mechanical blend of technological applications of SMRs with social interactions and conflicting interpretations, creating a strategically stable environment in national politics.

Sweden and Norway’s shift to SMRs is a regional signal Denmark can no longer ignore.

The interpretation from different social groups, from nuclear institutes to media persons, all would contest the utility of this innovative technology. From commercial scalability to nuclear greenwashing, to future-ready solutions to curb electricity vulnerabilities, and from industry-state agreements to solidify reactor designs and regulatory frameworks, the socially negotiated aspect of SMRs eludes strategic isolation and technological essentialism.

The concern of proliferation and uranium fuel sourcing remains an issue, as regulatory mechanisms are required to be periodically inspected, monitored, and upgraded to match the potential of modern technology. With precision, tactfulness, and flexibility, crafting policies for international transparency can create an environment that dissipates trust deficits.

Therefore, teaming up with research institutions, energy sectors, and international organizations (IAEA) is important to ensure compliance with global standards and extend its outreach to regional SMR developers. For Denmark, normalizing ties with Russia after the war outbreak in Ukraine appears highly impossible, but the Russian institutes that manufacture reactors still dominate the SMRs market trends.

AKME-Engineering in Russia develops lead-bismuth coolant fast reactors, and China’s ACP100 pressurized water reactor is one of the blueprints in the field of SMRs for the world to follow in the development of these socially progressive elements of energy generation.

Repealing the 1985 nuclear ban is essential for integrating next-gen energy systems.

The democratization of SMRs to mitigate the energy crisis and the adaptation of peaceful applications of energy generation that stay in line with climate doctrines, national requirements, and budgeting expenses pave the way for a robust integration of next-gen energy reactors. Denmark has to revisit the Nuclear Ban Act, amend it, and create nuclear regulatory bodies. The surge in private companies such as NuScale and Rolls-Royce SMRs has already dominated markets in the UK and USA, bringing them would reduce national strain and allow robust mechanisms of energy production to take center stage.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.