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Nuclear Power, Technological Autonomy, and the State in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2022

Dimitris Stevis
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Stephen P. Mumme
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
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On 10 October 1988, President Miguel de la Madrid authorized loading of the first of two reactor units at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant, on the Mexican gulf coast above the port of Veracruz. De la Madrid's decision to move ahead with Laguna Verde, Mexico's first foray into commercial nuclear energy production, came as no surprise. What was extraordinary was that it proved to be one of the most controversial policy actions of his sexenio. Culminating twenty years of planning and development, the Laguna Verde project, which had been emblematic of Mexico's technical progress and promise at its outset, had turned into a political albatross.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 by the University of Texas Press

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