Comparing Nuclear Power Trajectories in Germany and the UK: From 'Regimes' to 'Democracies' in Sociotechnical Transitions and Discontinuities

Abstract

SWPS 2015-18 ( June) DisclaimerThe works available here are the responsibility of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of other SPRU researchers. As matters of policy and practice, SPRU does not endorse individual research contributions. Guidelines for authorsPapers shall be submitted in pdf or Word format. They should contain a title, an abstract, and keywords. Papers should be submitted to one of the Editors, who will process them and send them to the appropriate Associate Editor. Two members of SPRU will be asked to provide a short written review within three weeks. The revised versions of the paper, together with a reply to the reviewers, should be sent to the Associate Editor, who will propose to the Editors its publication on the series. When submitting the authors should indicate if the paper has already undergone peer-reviewing, in which case the Associate Editors may decide to skip internal review process. AbstractThis paper focuses on arguably the single most striking contrast in contemporary major energy politics in Europe (and even the developed world as a whole): the starkly differing civil nuclear policies of Germany and the UK. Germany is seeking entirely to phase out nuclear power by 2022. Yet the UK advocates a 'nuclear renaissance', promoting the most ambitious new nuclear construction programme in Western Europe. Here, this paper poses a simple yet quite fundamental question: what are the particular divergent conditions most strongly implicated in the contrasting developments in these two countries. With nuclear playing such an iconic role in historical discussions over technological continuity and transformation, answering this may assist in wider understandings of sociotechnical incumbency and discontinuity in the burgeoning field of 'sustainability transitions'. To this end, an 'abductive' approach is taken: deploying nine potentially relevant criteria for understanding the different directions pursued in Germany and the UK. Together constituted by 30 parameters spanning literatures related to socio-technical regimes in general as well as nuclear technology in particular, the criteria are divided into those that are 'internal' and 'external' to the 'focal regime configuration' of nuclear power and associated 'challenger technologies' like renewables. It is 'internal' criteria that are emphasised in conventional sociotechnical regime theory, with 'external' criteria relatively less well explored. Asking under each criterion whether attempted discontinuation of nuclear power would be more likely in Germany or the UK, a clear picture emerges. 'Internal' criteria suggest attempted nuclear discontinuation should be more likely in the UK than in Germany -the reverse of what is occurring. 'External' criteria are more aligned with observed dynamics -especially those relating to military nuclear commitments and broader 'qualities of democracy'. Despite many differences of framing concerning exactly what constitutes 'democracy', a rich political science literature on t...

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda

“…8 Aklin and Urpelainen (2013) argue that governments in such systems can deliberately over or under-invest in areas such as renewable energy because they are aware that successive governments may try to undo their policies. 9 Johnstone and Stirling (2015) also argue that incumbent power may also reside in strategic cross-sectoral links, such as the close networks between nuclear power and the military. 10 An interesting contrast here is UK's approach in which smart meter data is to be managed by a private company which will charge for access, and Denmark's, where data is managed by the state-owned system operator and where access is free.…”

The role of narratives in socio-technical transitions—Fukushima and the energy regimes of Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom

“…Recent research suggests that the British Government's strong support for nuclear energy may also be based by military-related nuclear interests, in particular maintaining infrastructure to support the fleet of nuclear propelled submarines (Johnstone & Stirling, 2015) …”

Narratives of Low-Carbon Transitions

“…Global political instability encourages intensive nuclear technology development, both internationally and in the UK, as an apparently secure option, and SMRs could emerge (Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), 2017a; Locatelli et al, 2017) as a more flexible option for part of the 40 GW capacity, though the feasibility of commercial SMRs is yet to be established. Global instability also reinforces the idea that a strong civil nuclear industry as helpful in maintaining the UK's capacity to possess credible nuclear weapons (Johnstone and Stirling, 2015).…”