TA-relevante Bücher und Tagungsberichte

The management of radioactive waste, and particularly long-lived radioactive waste, is one of the key issues which have dominated debates on nuclear energy over the past decade. While radioactive waste constitutes only a small fraction of all toxic wastes in OECD countries, it has kindled more public concern than any other type of waste.

Over the next several decades, the field of radioactive waste management will increasingly evolve from the conceptual to the operational, with the development of long-lived radioactive waste storage and disposal programmes and with the decommissioning of ageing nuclear power facilities. The evolution will bring new challenges in communicating with the public, which is useful to examine already today.

In this context, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) organised an International Seminar on Future Information Challenges and Public Participation in the Field of Radioactive Waste Management, which took place in Rauma, Finland, from 13 to 15 June 1995. Approximately 50 representatives of 15 industrialised countries participated in the seminar, in particular executives of national radioactive waste management agencies and information managers of such bodies and other institutions involved in radioactive waste management, including nuclear regulatory bodies, nuclear electricity companies and nuclear fuel cycle facilities who reported on current "communication practices" in their countries. Specialists in sociological topics as related to radioactive waste management also took part in the meeting. The objectives of the seminar were to:

• examine how scientific, technical, institutional and economic challenges and achievements in radioactive waste management at the local and national levels have been translated in terms of public information;
• study information strategies and means of addressing public concerns on ethical, environmental and other issues regarding future developments in radioactive waste management;
• assess evolving ways and means to involve the public in the implementation of waste management programmes.

The common themes that have emerged from the Seminar were, in particular: 

• Public concern in general remains high - particularly about repositories for long-lived wastes.
• Support or commitment to nuclear power does not imply that waste disposal activities will be any more acceptable - even within a community with a long history of accepting nuclear facilities, such as Sellafield or in countries with a major nuclear power programme, such as France or Japan.
• Public information messages should be kept as simple as possible, including descriptions of natural analogues and perhaps comparisons with non-radioactive wastes. Safety assessment models, probability distributions and so on are only likely to be understood by a small minority of people.
• Social and ethical issues are at least as important as technical issues - and there is a difficult balancing problem to be resolved between local ethical desirables and national ethical imperatives. <
• The economic dimension must be included in the communication programmes, including setting out the funding methods that will ensure that costs will be met when they are incurred, which may be well in the future.
• Public involvement, at the earliest possible stage, is perhaps the most vital requirement, although it will not necessarily be enough.

The proceedings include the main papers submitted and a summary of the findings.
(compiled from the proceedings)

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