Stakeholder issues and involvement in decommissioning nuclear facilities. Lessons learnt from WPDD and FSC activities and documentation

The expectation that significant numbers of nuclear power plants will reach the end of their operating lives in the coming decade or so, or will be shut down for economic or other reasons, is resulting in increasing emphasis being given in member countries to the involvement of stakeholders in the associated decision procedures. Although the need for public involvement during the siting process for a new nuclear facility is well established - given the potential for community disruption in terms of population changes and construction nuisance - the role of stakeholders during the shutdown and decommissioning phases is perhaps less well understood. The decision to shut down a nuclear facility before the end of its design lifetime is usually taken for economic, safety or political reasons. In general, there is no requirement in legislation to involve stakeholders directly in this decision; though there can be substantial consequences for local communities in terms of decreasing employment rate and an eventual reduction of revenues for the host municipality. On the other hand, stakeholders do generally have the legal right to be involved in the consequential decision about the strategy for decommissioning the shutdown plant - i.e. the actions taken to facilitate the end of regulatory oversight of the facility - typically through participation in an environmental impact assessment process. In this document, the arguments advanced in favour of stakeholder involvement, and the fostering of relationships with affected communities that are based on trust, are generally applicable to both the above decisions. Although those likely to be most affected by a decision to shut down a nuclear facility are those living nearby, it needs to be remembered that such decisions will sometimes have wider consequences, perhaps even at a national level, e.g. in the event that alternative sources of electricity need to be found to replace that from the shutdown plant. In these situations, there is a need to consider also views of stakeholders that represent national interests. As the decision process moves from issues concerned with the shutdown of the plant to strategies for its dismantling, the importance of purely local interests becomes greater. For this reason, it is necessary to develop dialogue and cooperation among regulators, implementers, and local stakeholders as early as practicable. The host municipalities for nuclear facilities tend to focus their attention on the day-to-day issues arising from the activities at the plant and, as regards decommissioning, will generally favour the early reuse of the site for economic or cultural purposes. As in other phases of the nuclear facility life cycle, it is necessary to develop trust among stakeholders in decommissioning and dismantling projects. This may be accomplished through involving local and regional actors in decision-making, but also in monitoring activities, so as to have a better grip on the continuous changes taking place at the site. Transparency is needed in decision-making and in the respective roles played by regulators, implementers and local authorities. At all times, proactive information, and efforts to 'translate' technical information into language meaningful to the chosen audience, will contribute to building mutual understanding and trust. Partnership arrangements, by which institutions enter into structured project-management relationships with local communities, have been found beneficial. Decommissioning in both nuclear and non-nuclear areas may be viewed as an opportunity to improve the sustainability of the host community. The creation of added cultural or economic value can contribute to increasing quality of life over the years. More recent designs integrating reflection on the end use of the facility and site, or technical provisions for quick transitions to other types of facilities, provide better assurance to the host community that there will be flexibility in future planning capacity. There is an increasing recognition in member states that, although there is a gradual convergence in terms of the technical approaches to decommissioning, and in the overall decommissioning objectives, there is also a need to retain a certain flexibility as these are implemented, in order that local considerations can be adequately accommodated. For this reason, actual practices will necessarily differ from context to context. The work reported in this paper reflects successful processes in certain countries, but different cultures may require or even dictate other approaches. Matters like the extent of government commitment and involvement, legal provisions, and so forth, are an important consideration in dealing with the stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of the underlying concepts and principles of stakeholder involvement in D and D, and incite new thinking about how to meet the challenges