Policy Learning through Public Inquiries? The Case of UK Nuclear Energy Policy 1955–61

Combining insights from interpretive policy analysis, collaborative planning theory, and science and technology studies, I consider the role and influence of the public planning inquiry on policy learning and change. Drawing on the case of UK nuclear energy policy, and the construction of the first generation of civil nuclear power stations, I focus on the seven inquiries held in response to the 1955 Nuclear White Paper. Following an analysis of archival records, inspectors' reports and interview data, I examine how this setting facilitated instrumental policy learning and why it failed to stimulate social policy learning. The concept of boundary-work, and its role in preserving the intellectual authority and professional autonomy of the nuclear industry during the inquiries, is explored in detail. I conclude by considering the contemporary significance of these findings in light of the current ‘nuclear renaissance’ and concurrent streamlining of the UK planning process.