Speaker
Description
Civil Society (CS) experts involved in the ROUTES (Waste Management routes in Europe from cradle to grave) work package of the EURAD programme , together with Radioactive Waste (RW) technical experts, have investigated how the pillars of the Aarhus Convention together with a broader understanding of Transparency and Public Participation (T&PP) can be transposed into Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) in the establishment of RW facilities, primarily geological disposal repositories, in different national contexts. Criteria for T&PP in the development of RW facilities are proposed, based on the EC Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Directive, the Aarhus Convention and the CS BEPPER report focusing on Broad Framework for Effective Public Information and Participation in Environmental Decision-making in RWM. In this perspective, the possibilities and challenges of RWM in Large Inventory Member States and Small Inventory Member States are analysed with regard to interactions with CS, drawing on various exchanges between the CS experts and experts from RW management organisations, RW technical support organisations and RW research entities within ROUTES, including the last exchange at a workshop held at Nuclear Engineering Seibersdorf GmbH in Austria in May 2023, where contrasting examples of CS engagement approaches in LIMS and SIMS were compared.
