Documenting and Popularising British nuclear power: Exploring science infotainment

The purpose of this paper is to explore how British documentaries on nuclear power offer insight into the relationship between science information and entertainment, and between science and the public in the new age of environmental concerns and ecological transition. The analysis of two recent BBC documentaries on this controversial and highly-divisive topic will focus on the impact of elements of entertainment on their popularisation agenda, somehow blending edutainment with infotainment. It will show how dramatization may influence not only the viewers’ relation to nuclear science and experts, but also the goals pursued by these documentaries. Ultimately, these sources will help reveal whether informing/educating still prevails over entertainment, thus redefining the face of British science through infotainment in the ecological age.