About the different responses of two countries to the nuclear catastrophe. The reactor accident at Chernobyl in 1986 is considered the worst disaster in the history of civilian nuclear energy use up to that point. However, the international reactions to it varied significantly, particularly contrasting in West Germany and France. The German public fiercely debated safety limits and soon questioned the safety of their own nuclear power plants. In France, however, there was no public outcry. The French government, unlike any other in Western Europe, did not even implement precautionary measures. It seemed as if the radioactive cloud had stopped exactly at the border. Katrin Jordan analyzes the interplay of politics, science, and media in both countries and shows why the issue is perceived so differently on either side of the Rhine.