Metagovernance and Nuclear Power in Europe

The British, Finnish and French governments are currently attempting to expand the share of electricity produced by nuclear power. We examine the diverse metagovernance responses in the three countries as their governments seek to manage complex networks to realise their policy goals. An expanded role for nuclear power in electricity generation cannot be called in existence by government fiat and challenges stem from the nature of nuclear technology itself, the institutional and physical configurations of the energy industries within each country and the political systems within which each government is embedded. It is shown that the ability of the British, Finnish and French governments to respond to a serious policy challenge in energy provision is limited by these factors and is complicated further by the 2011 nuclear accident in Japan.