ABSTRACT
The story of the British civil nuclear industry is an unhappy one. But nuclear power has had a difficult history in many other countries too. This chapter asks whether British nuclear policy choices were distinctive, in ways that might explain the financial collapse of British Energy. It argues that the UK was unusual but not unique in combining private ownership of nuclear power with liberalised power markets; this combination exists in parts of the US. The UK opted for a non-standard reactor type, but so did Canada. Lastly the UK policy of placing responsibility for back end nuclear costs and storage on the company is unusual, although shared with France and Germany. No one policy choice appears to explain the financial crisis of British Energy but the combination did create a more risky situation.
