Nuclear policy and British politics

Nuclear Policy and British Politics: changing debates about energy since 1945

There is currently no official history of civil nuclear energy covering the period after 1958, and most unofficial histories have not used unpublished, archival sources. The records Elizabeth identified as of potential interest at TNA included those of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UK AEA), the Department of the Environment's Radioactive Waste Division, and the Atomic Energy Division of the Department of Energy. Despite the enduring importance of this material, her preliminary survey of usage suggests that it is underused; civil nuclear records are rarely requested by TNA readers and tend, as noted, not to feature in scholarly research. When TNA records are cited in publications that discussed nuclear energy policy, Elizabeth found, they are usually Prime Ministerial or Cabinet papers, rather than those in the 'atomic energy' series listed above. This represents a large, untapped resource.

In addition, a review of UK university departments currently conducting research on nuclear energy policy revealed only one instance in which records held at TNA had been consulted, and in the majority of cases recently funded research has focused on issues associated with 'new nuclear build', with details of the history of UK civil nuclear energy policy gleaned through official publications or secondary sources only. Elizabeth's project drew on these findings to inform collection development policy in this area and will help develop an access and awareness strategy for nuclear energy policy records for future researchers. She also intends to write a short article for the ESRC, using her project as a case-study for the knowledge transfer internship scheme.

Elizabeth Rough is in her second year of doctoral research on 'Nuclear Narratives in UK Energy Policy' at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.