This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/3551/ Creator: Sneddon, S. Title: Nuclear unclear: an investigation of British nuclear power policy, 1945-2005 Research supervisor: Dr Suzanne McDonald-Walker School: School of Social Sciences Date of completion: 2010 Institution: The University of Northampton Example citation: Sneddon, S. (2010) Nuclear unclear: an investigation of British nuclear power policy, 1945-2005. Doctoral thesis. The University of Northampton. Nuclear Unclear: An investigation of British Nuclear Power Policy 1945-2005 Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy At the University of Northampton 2010 Simon Thomas Sneddon © Simon Thomas Sneddon 2010. This thesis is copyright material and no quotation from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. Nuclear Unclear Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... I ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... III CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 1 1.1: PRAGMATISM ........................................................................................................... 4 1.2: THE USE OF SCIENCE .................................................................................................. 6 1.3: TECHNOCRATIC DECISION MAKING ................................................................................. 11 1.4: THE 2001 FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE OUTBREAK ............................................................... 12 1.5: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 13 1.6: INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS ...................................................................................... 16 1.7: CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2: 1944-48: THE INTRODUCTION OF NUCLEAR POWER ................................... 21 2.1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 21 2.2: BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................... 21 2.3: THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................. 23 2.4: THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT 1946 .................................................................................... 32 2.5: THE RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES ACT 1948 ....................................................................... 39 2.6: SECRECY AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION ........................................................................... 41 2.7: CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3: 1973-78: MORTAL WOUNDING OF NUCLEAR POWER? ................................. 47 3.1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 47 3.2: DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 1948 AND 1972 ....................................................................... 48 3.3: THE ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (WEAPONS GROUP) ACT 1973 .................................................. 72 3.4: THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY (FINANCE) ACT 1977 AND THE NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS AND ELECTRICITY (FINANCE) ACT 1978 ................................................................................................ 73 3.5: THE PARKER INQUIRY ................................................................................................. 79 3.6: CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 84 CHAPTER 4: 1992-95: THE DECLINE OF PUBLIC FUNDING .............................................. 87 4.1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 87 4.2: DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 1978 AND 1992 ....................................................................... 88 4.3: THE RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS (ROAD TRANSPORT) ACT 1991 AND THE RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES ACT 1993 ................................................................................................................. 108 4.4: THE ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY ACT 1995 .................................................................... 111 4.5: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 113 CHAPTER 5: NOVEMBER 2005 – MAY 2008: THE REBIRTH OF NUCLEAR POWER? .......... 117 5.1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 117 5.2: DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 1995 AND 2005 ..................................................................... 118 5.3: THE CBI SPEECH, NOVEMBER 2005 ............................................................................. 134 5.4: THE 2007 GREENPEACE CASE..................................................................................... 139 5.5: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 145 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................... 148 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 154 JOURNALS ..................................................................................................................... 154 BOOKS ......................................................................................................................... 158 HANSARD ...................................................................................................................... 163 NEWSPAPERS .................................................................................................................. 166 GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................ 168 INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS .................................................................................................... 175 OTHER PUBLICATIONS ........................................................................................................ 176 CASES ......................................................................................................................... 180 STATUTE ....................................................................................................................... 181 APPENDIX I: A GLOSSARY OF POSSIBLY UNCOMMON TERMS & ABBREVIATIONS ......... 185 APPENDIX II: NUCLEAR LEGISLATION 1946- ............................................................... 191 Nuclear Unclear UK ACTS ...................................................................................................................... 191 APPENDIX III: CURRENT TYPES OF NUCLEAR REACTOR ............................................... 193 APPENDIX IV BREAKDOWN OF THE NUCLEAR CONSORTIA 1954-80 ............................. 195 PHASE 1 ....................................................................................................................... 195 PHASE 2 ....................................................................................................................... 195 PHASE 3 ....................................................................................................................... 196 PHASE 4 ....................................................................................................................... 196 APPENDIX V INITIAL MEMBERS OF THE UKAEA ........................................................... 197 APPENDIX VI: THE NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION ........................................................... 199 APPENDIX VII: KEY NUCLEAR SITES IN THE UK ........................................................... 201 APPENDIX VIII: PROJECT PLOWSHARE ....................................................................... 203 Nuclear Unclear Acknowledgements Thanks for help, inspiration and guidance to Dr John Frost, Dr John Proops, Dr Suzanne McDonald Walker, Professor Andrew Pilkington and Dr Caoimhin MacMaolain A big thank you to my family for their support over the past years. Particular thanks to Katie, without whom I’m not sure I would have put my nose back to the grindstone. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. Nuclear Unclear Nuclear Unclear Abstract This thesis traces the development of policy and the regulatory framework for the commercial nuclear power industry in the United Kingdom between 1945 and 2005. It is argued that throughout the whole period politicians have legitimised their decisions in terms of a scientific discourse that represents the scientific community as unified and the decisions as thus self-evident. This is illustrated by looking at the key elements of legislation relating to nuclear power in four distinct periods: 1944-8, the introduction of nuclear power; 1973-8, the mortal wounding of nuclear power; 1992-5, the decline of public funding; and 2005-8, the rebirth of nuclear power. In each of the periods identified the key policy developments and legislative initiatives were based on pragmatic considerations. A distinction is made between two types of pragmatic