Canada, the Provinces, and the Global Nuclear Revival: Advocacy Coalitions in Action by Duane Bratt (review)

An ambitious and timely piece of work, Duane Bratt’s book is a good resource for a historical overview of the nuclear policy context in the provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Alberta as well as certain aspects of the Canadian and international nuclear context. Using the theoretical tool of the advocacy coalition framework of Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith, Bratt illustrates the nuclear history, the major actors involved (divided into pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear), policy brokers, relationships within the nuclear advocacy coalition framework, future provincial nuclear plans, and the “winning” provincial coalition.

An informative review of the advocacy coalition framework sets the stage of the analysis, and four hypotheses are established surrounding change in relation to policy, actor coalitions, and relationships. An attempt is made to break ground by including multiple levels of jurisdictions (provincial and national) in the policy subsystem (albeit the methodology of linking these two spheres is somewhat weak). Although clear recognition of the change in stance of some environmental groups who were anti-nuclear to the pro-nuclear camp is recognized, Bratt continues to divide actors simplistically into pro-and anti-camps, and lacks exploration of varieties and interlinkages of interests. Occasionally significant errors occur, such as the conclusion that Saskatchewan is not pursuing a nuclear generating option (this continues to be listed as a Saskatchewan possibility, albeit a large generating station has been passed over). These weaknesses make the alleged establishment of the advocacy coalition hypothesis somewhat suspect.

Bratt sets ambitious empirical objectives for the work, measuring the impact of the global nuclear revival on Canada, ascertaining if there has been a broadening and deepening of the nuclear industry, determining whether Canada has exploited international opportunities, and specifying the degree of consolidation of the Canadian nuclear industry. Although these topics are covered in great detail, the book falls short of providing rigorous analytic measurement definitively answering these questions.

Two prevalent weaknesses can be found in this informative work. The first is the historical focus. Not enough emphasis is placed on future drivers; new technology (smaller nuclear generation units) and competing drivers impacting the nuclear industry (other renewable energy options, and the impact of shale gas on energy security). The most salient shortcoming is the conclusion that there has been a Canadian “revival” of nuclear power. Based on public opinion polls, the existence of government and industry studies, refurbishments, and new builds (none of which are quantitatively and comparatively measured over time) Bratt concludes there has been a nuclear revival in the last decade. Perhaps it is telling that Bratt then predicts that either a critical preparation of future nuclear generation has occurred, or despite the energetic activity, Canada will take a pass on expanding nuclear power. So which is it? A revival or a pass?