Access to information on nuclear safety in some Western countries. Additional expertise commissioned by the Public Debate National Commission

The authors report the analysis of procedures implemented in different western countries (Switzerland, Finland, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and United States) about the access to information on nuclear safety in the broad sense, i.e. as far as population protection against accidental or malevolent situations is concerned. They aimed at analysing how these procedures conciliate pluralism and comprehensive debate while preserving national and industrial interests as well as population's confidence. For each country, they present the different pubic bodies or agencies in charge of nuclear installations and nuclear safety, the existing legal framework related to information on government and nuclear activities, and give examples of information related to nuclear safety (incident or accident concerning nuclear power station or radioactive wastes). The comparative analysis considers different issues: access to information, and pluralist expertise