Public participation, access to information and transparency in nuclear safety

The round table organized by ENSREG (European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group) and Nuclear Transparency Watch (NTW) on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention and the Euratom Directives on nuclear safety in terms of transparency and access to information, public participation and in general on the involvement of civil society in the regulatory processes of nuclear installations ended yesterday at the offices of the European Commission in Luxembourg.
The round table was attended by representatives of the Nuclear Safety Authorities of the EU Member States, various non-governmental associations and the European Commission. Representatives of ISIN participated for Italy. In particular, representatives of France, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria were present.
The round table was divided into two sessions. In the first, regarding the aspects of public participation, the obligation was reiterated, contemplated by both the Convention and the Directives, that for the various phases of life of nuclear installations, i.e. from the location phase to the decommissioning phase, the competent authorities create the conditions and mechanisms through which there can be effective public participation in decision-making processes, giving the possibility to formulate observations that must be taken into account.
During the discussion between the working groups, the need emerged to guarantee public participation in decision-making processes relating to activities or installations of relevance for nuclear safety, from the identification of the site to the decommissioning phase, and transparency in the sharing of public information.
In particular, the importance, as a participation tool, of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures and their necessary connection with the authorization procedures that are carried out in the various states in implementation of the provisions of the Directives on nuclear safety was reiterated. With regard to participatory aspects, ISIN represented the experience of the national seminar, within the process of localization of the National Repository for Radioactive Waste, the practice established with the implementation of the directives on nuclear safety of submitting to public consultation the authorization decrees for the decommissioning of the plants before their issuance, the practice of ISIN itself of submitting to public consultation through its website the draft Technical Guides before their finalization.

In the second session, the topic of transparency and access to information was addressed, in fact also preparatory to effective participation. Much information was exchanged on the mechanisms implemented in the various countries to promote transparent information and the cases in which the release of information may not be due for reasons related to confidentiality needs, for example related to security aspects, were discussed.

Each State brought concrete examples and participation, highlighting in some cases also regulatory shortcomings to protect the public. Italy provided its contribution on these issues by citing the so-called periodic “Transparency Tables” that take place at nuclear sites, the constant information on safety and environmental monitoring issues provided by ISIN on its website and some aspects of the legislation that oblige operators, in particular for decommissioning activities, to prepare specific information plans.

At the end of the work, the European Commission reiterated how the issue of access to information and participation by the public acquires a very important relevance in this historical period in which many Member States are grappling with the authorization processes for Repositories, including disposal, of radioactive waste, and plan to build new small-scale reactors (SMR) in the future.