Nuclear Power Policies in Britain

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'In our energy-starved world, this book provides a timely and fascinating study of the politics of nuclear power in the UK, which combines scholarly mastery, sophisticated argumentation and a powerful thesis. The author successfully turns a complex, under-researched and seemingly forbidding topic into a highly stimulating, enjoyable read.' -Emmanuelle Avril, Professor of Contemporary Politics and Society, Sorbonne Nouvelle University. 'Guiding the reader through the key turning points in the seven-decades-long journey of nuclear power in the UK, Lucie Carvalho masterly demonstrates the interrelatedness of state power and nuclear power. The fortunes of nuclear power have been at the mercy of shifting governance fashions, while the nuclear sector has in turn decisively shaped the evolution of UK governance, from the post-war state-centrism, through the Thatcherite revolution, to today's complex hybrid governance' -Dr Markku Lehtonen Researcher, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. 'The UK nuclear renaissance is one of the most intriguing enigmas of the energy sector in the last twenty years. Why did the UK government choose to support this contested energy? Why did it accept to cover the extra costs and the market risk in a country dominated by a liberal energy policy? In this book, Lucie de Carvalho solves this enigma by in-depth investigation of decision-making in UK energy policy' -Thomas Reverdy, Professor of Sociology, Universite Grenoble Alpes, PACTE, CNRS, Grenoble INP Graduate School of Engineering and Management. Nuclear Power Policies in Britain is not about the science or technology of nuclear energy. Rather, it is a densely written political science doctoral thesis on the important societal decision-making processes of governmental and market forces in Great Britain and the contrasts between the two modes. The key question is how and why did British society oscillate between supporting and denigrating civilian nuclear power. This question unfolds within the theoretical and practical context of neoliberalism, which curtails the ability of the state to innovate technological solutions and assert policy programs. Nonscientists will be interested by the history of the concurrent development of nuclear weapons and nuclear electricity in the UK, as well as the nation's drive to fulfill the motto "Britain leads the world" and the resulting "war of the reactors" between British and foreign-designed reactors. The book has occasional lapses of good English writing style. - A. M. Saperstein, emeritus, Wayne State University