[en] Any significant decisions regarding geologic disposal of radioactive waste will need a comprehensive public review and a thorough involvement of all relevant stakeholders, such as waste generators, waste management agencies, regulatory authorities, local communities and elected officials. The participation of non-technical stakeholders will become increasingly important as more countries move towards siting and implementing geologic repositories. The decision-making process and avenues for stakeholder involvement differ from country to country. It is important to identify similarities and differences, understand the key concerns of the various stakeholders, and develop means to interact effectively. The Nuclear Energy Agency recently set up a Forum on Stakeholder Confidence charged with distilling the lessons that can be learnt from national and international experience. These proceedings of the Forums first workshop held in August 2000 provide an overview of OECD countries' experience in the field of stakeholder confidence and radioactive waste disposal. (author)

[en] Working Group 5 started with a presentation providing an overview of recent research on the issue of public acceptance of waste management. It identified a trustworthy and credible organisation as one that could be also described as: Open, innovative, flexible, responsive, and fair. This presentation was followed by a discussion about 'Which re structural requirements for the effective performance of waste management institutions?'; The WG continued then with a round around the table during which it was possible to compile the views of all participants on the question 'What would characterise a organisation that would earn the trust from the stakeholders (a high reliability organisation)?'. In answering this question, each participant was also asked to consider whether there are differences to be noted according to whether the organisation is an implementing one, authority, municipality or a NGO. Most answers concentrated on the implementer's role. It was concluded, however, that many of the items listed below are valid for the other actors and, especially, the authorities. When compiling the list there was a need to structure the answers into 3 groups, which are discussed in this paper: - Organisational aspects. - Mission(s). - Behaviour. (author)

[en] The function of supervision and scientific and technical assessment organs depends first of all on the conditions in which they are created, and on the mission which is officially assigned to them. Their composition must be adapted to this particular mission. The supervision and scientific and technical assessment bodies are required to fulfill a function of mediation between scientists and engineers on one hand, public authorities and the general public on the other. They must explain in straightforward terms the studies and research being implemented, the advances that are noted and the inadequacies they might notice. This mission of information is aimed at contributing to the public debate. (author)

[en] This paper is a brief reminder of the content of the talks that set the scene for the Workshop on Stakeholder Confidence which took place the 28-31 August 2000 in Paris. The talks were presented in five topics and five associated working groups: the changing environment for waste management programmes; trust and the institutional framework; stakeholders and the Public; the new dynamic of dialogue and decision making; the waste management institutions setting up for achieving stakeholders confidence over the long term. (A.L.B.)

[en] Much research has been conducted in Canada to develop a disposal solution for nuclear fuel waste. In 1977, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources engaged a group of experts led by Dr. Kenneth Hare to provide the government and the public with views on nuclear fuel waste disposal. In their report entitled 'The Management of Canada's Nuclear Wastes', the authors considered various waste disposal options and concluded that the burial in geologic formations had the best potential for Canada. The governments of Canada and Ontario formally accepted the proposal in 1978 and launched the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Programme. The Programme was conceived to be generic rather than site specific, and was developed to meet national criteria. The concept of geological disposal is based on burial of the bundles of nuclear fuel waste, at depths of 500 to 1,000 m in plutonic rock of the Canadian Shield, using a multi-barrier approach with a series of engineered and natural barriers. (author)

[en] In Finland, POSIVA OY is responsible for the management of spent nuclear fuel. In the spring of 1999, POSIVA filed and application to the Council of State for a policy decision on the building of the final disposal facility in Olkiluoto in the municipality of Eurajoki. This application has by now been supported by STUK, Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority as well as the municipality of Eurajoki. A complaint has been filed to the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the decision of the municipality of Eurajoki. This complaint is still being processed. After the ruling of the Court has been passed, the Council of State will make a policy decision on final disposal, and this decision will also have to be separately ratified by the Finnish Parliament. At the moment it looks like POSIVA will obtain the policy decision permission for the final disposal facility during the winter of 2000-2001. The policy decision permission will in practice mean that the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel from the Finnish nuclear power plants will comprise embedding of the fuel at a depth of 500 m in the bedrock of Olkiluoto. The policy decision permission will make it possible to concentrate POSIVA's investigations in Eurajoki, with an underground research laboratory built in Olkiluoto at a depth of 500 m. The building work of this facility will probably start in 2003. POSIVA's staff and head office will be gradually moved to Olkiluoto so that by the summer of 2002 ail of the Company's activities will take place there. The planned starting time for the construction of the final disposal facility is year 2010 with the operation of the facility started in 2020. In this presentation I will describe the challenges faced by POSIVA's communication operation with regard to the various stakeholders as a result of moving the company' s activities to a new location and starting a new phase in the research activities. At this point the opinions are my personal views and do not necessarily represent official company policy. (author)

[en] Over the last two decades a number of research studies on waste management facility siting have been produced. A Facility Siting Credo exists (Kunreuther et al., 1993). It identifies a comprehensive set of criteria for successful siting, but relationships between them (complementary, conflicting) have not been investigated. An attempt has been made to identify a conceptual framework which helps to structure siting criteria based on Competing Values Approach (CVA) to organisational analysis (Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983). Competing values include goal-centred, data-based, participatory, and adaptable processes, as well as efficient, accountable, supportable, and legitimate decisions. Case studies: Analysing LLRW disposal facility siting processes in the US (California, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, and Texas), Canada, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland (1980-1993) by using the CVA framework (Vari et al., 1994). Analysis of LALW siting processes in Hungary (1985-99) (Juhasz et al., 1993; Ormai et al., 1998; Ormai, 1999). (author)

[en] Until the international moratorium of 1983, Belgium relied on sea disposal for its low-level waste. Since then, ONDRAF/NIRAS, the Belgian waste management agency, has launched studies to look for land-based solutions. These studies, which are still ongoing, have gone through various phases. The sometimes harsh reactions in public opinion and the recommendations of independent experts, however, progressively led ONDRAF/NIRAS to question its work methodology. On 16 January 1998 a milestone was marked in Belgian nuclear waste management. On that day, the Belgian federal government opted for a final, or potentially final, solution for the long-term management of short-lived, low-level radioactive waste, a solution that also had to be progressive, flexible, and reversible. At the same time, the government entrusted new missions to ONDRAF/ NIRAS - in particular that of developing methods to enable the integration of final repository project proposals at the local level - and restricted the number of potential sites for final disposal to the four already existing nuclear sites in Belgium and to possibly interested local districts. The government's decision of 16 January 1998, forced ONDRAF/NIRAS to change its strategy. It set up a new work programme and worked out an innovative methodology. This new methodology aims to generate, at the level of the interested towns and villages, draft projects for a final repository supported by a wide public consensus. (author)

[en] The Oskarshamn municipality, located on the Swedish Southeast coast, is one of the six municipalities studied for a possible final repository for spent fuel. Public confidence is very important when discussing siting of nuclear facilities and Oskarshamn is presented as a model of public involvement. (A.L.B.)

[en] The meeting of Working Group 2 (WG-2) was preceded by two presentations in the plenary session: 'Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Government Relations with Citizens' and 'The Role and Experience of Technical Oversight Bodies'. The first identified trust and legitimacy as key resources for effective policy making and democratic governance as well as the current progress and difficulties at OECD governments' level in promoting public trust and participation. The second described the use of technical oversight bodies to provide a function of mediation between scientists, public authorities and the general public, in order to facilitate communication and understanding of technical issues and research. Dr. Aebersold gave a presentation to WG-2 on the results of Switzerland's Expert Group on Disposal Concepts for Radioactive Waste (EKRA). This group was established to bridge between nuclear power plant operators and environmental organisations, who had opposing views of radioactive waste disposal in general, and the choice of the Wellenberg site for a geological repository in particular. The success of EKRA in having its recommendations accepted and advancing the long term waste management programme was attributed to, among other things: the popular acceptance of the EKRA chairman; the competence, independence and commitment of the EKRA members; the responsiveness of their recommendations to public concerns and social issues; and the openness and transparency of their work (including broad media coverage). Dr. Metlay, who chaired WG-2, described field studies that he has undertaken dealing with trust in specific institutions in the US. This initiated the discussions, which ranged from a general understanding of the nature of trust, to why it may be important in the successful siting and development of a repository. (author)