John Whitton

Public consent for the geologic disposal of highly radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel

Global agreement exists for the policy of the geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes, provided that there is public consent. To gain consent, social scientists recommend the less competitive approach of consensus rather than the majority rule (MR) of democracies. But, we hypothesize, competition for public consent from MR best improves the quality and stability of choice.

A Comparative Study of Stakeholder Participation in the Cleanup of Radioactive Wastes in the US, Japan and UK

We review case studies of stakeholder participation in the environmental cleanup of radioactive wastes in the United States, Japan and United Kingdom (e.g., [21,26,27,66,78]). Citizen participation programs in these three countries are at different stages: mature in the US, starting in Japan, and becoming operational in the UK. The US issue at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina (SC) had been focused on citizens encouraging Federal (DOE; US Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA; and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC) and State (SC’s Department of Health and Environmental Compliance, or DHEC) agencies to pursue “Plug-in-RODs” at SRS to simplify the regulations to accelerate closing seepage basins at SRS. In Japan, the Reprocessing of spent fuel and deep geological disposal of vitrified high-level waste have been among Japan’s priorities. A reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture is expected to commence operations in October 2010. The search of a site for a deep geological disposal facility has been ongoing since 2002. But the direct engagement of stakeholders has not occurred in Japan. Indirectly, stakeholders attempt to exert influence on decision-making with social movements, local elections, and litigation. In the UK, the issue is gaining effective citizen participation with the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). We hope that the case studies from these countries may improve citizen participation.© 2010 ASME