After 15 years of investigations conducted in France pursuant to the first research law on radioactive waste voted in 1991, reversible deep geological disposal has been recognised by the Planning Act No. 2006-739 Concerning the Sustainable Development of Radioactive Materials and Waste of 28 June 2006 as the reference solution for the longterm management of high-level and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste.
History shows that the search for sites for radioactive waste management facilities has been marred by conflicts and delays. Affected communities have often objected that their concerns and interests were not addressed. In response, institutions have progressively turned away from the traditional “decide, announce and defend” model, and are learning to “engage, interact and co-operate”. This shift has fostered the emergence of partnerships between the proponent of the facility and the potential host community, as shown in a recent NEA study.
Engagement of local communities and actors in the decision-making processes is traditionally motivated by the fact they are impacted by the decision taken. This traditional rationale for engagement of local communities and actors is driven not only by ethical concerns, but also by the necessity for public authorities to comply with national or international legal frameworks which give to stakeholders, concerned by a decision having environmental impacts, the right to be informed and participate in the decision (e.g.
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.
The Brief introduces the concept of ‘Community Benefit and Support Packages’ following requests from a number of National Stakeholder Groups (NSGs) for more information on this issue. During the development of the Brief presentations were made to NSG meetings in Romania (June 2009), Slovenia (October 2009) and the UK (September 2008, September 2009). Some information specific to the UK from the Brief was also presented in Spain (November 2008).
Current U.S. nuclear waste law and policy is bankrupt. The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) set a 1998 deadline for opening a deep geologic repository to receive spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW) from reprocessing. In 1987, Congress amended the Act to designate Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only potential site, and severely restricted the development of any federal facility for consolidated storage of nuclear waste. Nevada’s unrelenting opposition to the Yucca repository eventually succeeded with the election of Barack Obama as President.
