antinuclear movement

Organization or mass movement opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and/or the use of nuclear energy. It overlaps with the peace movement and the green movement.

As the nuclear-arms race gathered momentum during the 1950s, it was criticized by leading intellectual figures, notably Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein. From the 1970s the increased use of nuclear energy as a power source was opposed by environmentalists. Membership of antinuclear movements again grew during the 1980s as the Cold War appeared to intensify.