The Atom Besieged: Extraparliamentary Dissent in France and Germany is a 1981 book by Dorothy Nelkin and Michael Pollak. This book examines the opposition to nuclear power in France

Anti-nuclear movement in France

In the 1970s, an anti-nuclear movement in France, consisting of citizens' groups and political action committees, emerged. Between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power in ten demonstrations....

 and West Germany

Anti-nuclear movement in Germany

The anti-nuclear movement in Germany has a long history dating back to the early 1970s, when large demonstrations prevented the construction of a nuclear plant at Wyhl. The Whyl protests were an example of a local community challenging the nuclear industry through a strategy of direct action and...

 in the 1970s, which is assessed as being broadly based and widespread. The authors argue that the basic fear which accounted for the vehemence of the opposition is that nuclear power

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

fundamentally alters the makeup of society.