A diagnostic of the strategy employed for communicating nuclear related information to Brazilian communities around uranium mining areas

This paper presents a diagnostic of the strategy used by the Brazilian uranium mining industry to communicate nuclear related information to communities around a mining area. The uranium mining industry in Brazil, which is run by the government, has been concerned with communication issues for quite some time. The need to communicate became more apparent after new mining operations started in the Northern region of Brazil. The fact that the government does not have a clear communication guideline made the operators of the uranium mining industry aware of the increasing demand for establishment of a good relationship with several types of Stakeholders as well as employment of personnel with experience in dealing with them. A diagnostic of the current communication situation in Brazil and an analysis of the approaches over the past years was done through interviews with employees of the mining industry and review of institutional communication materials. The results were discussed during a Consultant's Meeting organized by the IAEA's Seibersdorf Laboratory in October 2007. The output of the meeting included an overview of modern communication strategies used by different countries and a suggestion for new uranium mining operations in developing or under developed countries. The strategy for communicating nuclear related information to Brazilian communities varied according to the influence of different Stakeholder groups. One initiative worth mentioning was the creation of a 'Mobile Nuclear Information Thematic Room', which was installed in several locations. This project was seen as one of the main tools to relate to community. Many Stakeholders were identified during the diagnostic phase in preparation for the IAEA's meeting on communication strategy: children, NGOs (Non Government Organizations), local churches, media, and internal Stakeholders, among others. An initial evaluation showed that the perception of a neighbouring community regarding an uranium mining industry is heavily dependent on the efforts of the industry in interacting with this community. (author)