WP 5 Final Report: National Insights

The objective of the National Insights was to develop as far as possible “a historical and strategic vision of the radioactive waste governance” for participants of a same country. While decision-making processes in radioactive waste management very often remain technically driven, there is a need to put forward and give substance to a more open and inclusive decision-making process. The notion of governance is often used to label this type of decision-making process. Gerry Stoker identifies five aspects of governance : “(1) - Governance refers to a set of organisations and actors which does not belong all to the government sphere (2) - It modifies the respective roles and responsibilities of public and private actors compared to traditional paradigms of policy making (3) - It involves interdependence between the organisations and actors engaged in collective action in contexts in which none of them has the resources and knowledge necessary to tackle the issue alone (4) - It involves autonomous networks of actors (5) - A key principle is the possibility of doing things without resorting to the power or the authority of the State.” What does governance mean in the specific context of each country? The National Insights made an attempt to answer this question by highlighting practical issues and experiences in each country, and explaining which are the key elements to be integrated in the decision-making process together with scientific and technical evidence and concepts.