Summary of Session 2.D. Consideration of social issues

In the technical discussions, it was noted that immediate dismantlement offered the opportunity to take advantage of skilled and knowledgeable plant staff. The technical discussions also pointed to the need for early planning for decommissioning. The same conclusions hold for social issues. Immediate dismantlement continues to maintain the local economy and employment levels and increases the time available to transition to alternative employment and to adjust to alternative economic activities. A number of key issues were highlighted: there is no single approach to deal with social issues; there are a variety of solutions depending on the social and economic situation in the region, cultural aspects, legal aspects, etc.; social issues, i.e. the social and economic impacts on the region, have to be considered from the beginning of nuclear facility operation. Communication between the facility operators and the local communities and other relevant bodies should be an established function long before closure is anticipated to occur. There are several social and economic effects of decommissioning to be considered: individual employment impacts; overall employment impacts; economic impact; skills mix; migratory effects in both directions; cultural effects connected to the relocations; impacts on revenues of local or regional public authorities. Several possibilities for involving the public were presented. After the decision to shut down the nuclear power plant has been made, new economic alternatives are needed for the area to survive.These have to be planned in advance - e.g. at the released site - based on training/retraining of the people and on the reparations of the companies and entrepreneurs in the area (strengthening of existing sectors or creation of new activities). However, based on the experience presented, greater effort has to be made with regard to diversification of the activities in the region before shutdown in order to avoid negative economic impacts