EURAD - D9.18 Implementation of ROUTES action plan third phase
The focus of the investigation by Task 7 members in the ROUTES Work Package (WP) revolves around public participation in technical aspects of Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), such as the development of Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), the management of challenging wastes and safety case development. The leading question driving this investigation is how to effectively organise and engage the public in these technical areas, which may not captivate general public’s interest but remain crucial for research and development due to their inherent uncertainties. These topics could be also challenging for the civil society (CS) to grasp, requiring a solid background in technical and natural science.
In this context, the Task 7 members worked on enhancing CS’s understanding through concrete, short term engagement with various stakeholder, in particular with CS members (including impacted citizens, and also NGOs), and also explored long-term engagement as a basic prerequisite for any RWM activity. In this deliverable D9.18, the results of the investigation are addressed following the established methodology from previous deliverables D9.16 and D9.17, using the approach described in D9.15. The report includes discussions on transparency and public participation concerning RWM implementation, providing an overview of legal frameworks, the position of regulators and analysis of societal expectations. It presents results from a questionnaire distributed to ROUTES participants and to the CS larger group. It also includes description of eight case studies from European countries highlighting public participation in recent RWM activities.
Based on the represented cases, general findings are deducted concerning the creation of a diverse information environment, ensuring CS’s involvement in technical issues, understanding power dynamics, and defining the role of responsible WMOs in transparency and public participation. The deliverables also include an important chapter of the options for short- and long-term CS engagement in RWM activities.
In addition, the report evaluates outcomes from other ROUTES tasks are evaluated, with their potential for examination by Task 7 in year 5 of EURAD.
