Local Partnerships: Achieving Stakeholder Consensus on Low-Level Waste Disposal?

Nuclear waste management is more then finding a technical answer to a technical problem. Dealing with nuclear, or any other form of hazardous waste, for that matter, not only implies solving a technical problem, it also means solving a societal problem. And societal questions cannot be resolved in a technical laboratory. Of course, the technical aspect of nuclear waste management and disposal is a very important one, but the societal aspect is of equal importance. In order to find an implementable solution to deal with nuclear waste, attention should be paid to what kind of solution the society wants and under what conditions a proposed solution might be acceptable. This, however, cannot be achieved by simply adding a number of ''societal parameters'' to a technical concept modeling. It is something that can only be established through interaction with the public concerned. And that, in addition, is not something that can be preformed as an accidental spin off of a vastly elaborated technical program. Communicating or interacting with the public does not mean sweeping them off their feet with smoothly edited leaflets explaining how technically sound the proposed solution is and how wonderful it would fit in their back yard. Adding, just to proof how brilliantly this all has been thought through, numerous safety measures, so people would feel reassured. This kind of communication, will only activate people's suspicion and drive them straight into a ''NIMBY''-reaction. The public (and by this we mean the stakeholders or the people actually concerned) should be involved in the decision making on nuclear waste from the very start of the program. This means that they must be aware of the fact that tests are taken place, that they can participate in the follow up of these technical analysis, and, that they have a say in whether further steps will eventually be taken