Stakeholder Confidence Workshop on the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities in the United Kingdom. An International Learning and Sharing Experience. 16 September 2020, Virtual meeting

The workshop program committee developed a concept paper in preparation for the workshop with the following objectives in mind: - Provide the FSC with the possibility to learn from UK stakeholders about their concerns, views, roles and interactions. - Share collected experience and learnings from the FSC based on 20 years of collaboration; - Examine the concrete approaches of stakeholder involvement in the process of decommissioning a nuclear facility in the UK. - Promote a neutral, respectful and learning dialogue on the subject. - Enhance international collaboration on the subject for the long term. The workshop was divided into the following four sessions: 1. Opening remarks, objectives and a presentation by the NDA setting the stage of the workshop? 2. Two separate panels focusing on: - The viewpoint of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), - The viewpoints of the FSC, and the UK regulators. 3. Open dialogue among all participants, including the FSC and CDLM participants. 4. Summary of the main takeaways and ending with a roundtable discussion. The discussion brought forward a good overview of the current situation in the UK and also reflected the following main issues related to stakeholder involvement in the field of decommissioning: - Trust and confidence are a vital part of engaging stakeholders. Openness and transparency, as well as consistency between involved entities, are key. - The usual top-down approach ('Decide- Announce-Defend') was widely applied in the last century, leaving a feeling of no engagement nor involvement; the partnership approach which followed showed significant improvements, however, in the view of some stakeholders, the UK 'new build' policy has cast a shadow, reversing the improvements achieved in previous years. - Large quantities of consultations ('consultation fatigue') creates frustration and leaves the impression of promoting participation for the purpose of legitimisation. - It is noted that consultation is not equal to engagement. - Stakeholder confidence means a long term engagement and needs to be built and maintained. Long time frames mean that it is challenging to maintain sustainable engagement mechanisms. - Capacity building and youth engagement is a very important aspect. This requires 'future citizens' and multigenerational aspects to engagement. - The geographical context matters and local perspective (project level) is quite different as at the national policy level; different concerns/ interests (national/regional/local). - It is important to include NGOs - their perspectives are important and valued both on a national NGO as well as local site stakeholder group level (which are the most affected). - Better and more sustainable decisions can be reached through stakeholder involvement. - NGOs with different amounts of resources can create an imbalance; dependencies have to be carefully evaluated and the independence of each actor is crucial. - Clarity of expectations and roles is crucial; UK regulators have a clear role regarding environment and society. - Specific/clear communication for different target groups is important, including different channels (disseminating information, local liaison, social media, etc.). - Verifying how information is received and understood (level of scientific depth) provides a challenge for engaging diverse groups of stakeholders. - Engaging and building confidence with stakeholders requires time and have a cost, so there is a need to be focused and deliberate