MANAGING RADIOACTIVE WASTE SAFELY: SUMMARY OF RESPONSES TO THE CONSULTATION
OTHER VIEWS INCLUDED IN THIS PAPER
8. During the course of the consultation period, views of relevant radioactive waste management issues were also provided by:
- the Government's independent Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) - attached as Annex 3
- the House of Commons Select Committee on Environment Food and Rural Affairs, in its report Radioactive Waste: the Government's Consultation Process, published in February 2002 - summary and recommendations at Annex 4
- the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee, in its report Managing Radioactive Waste: the Government's Consultation, published in November 2001 - Annex 5
9. A number of public meetings were organised by local authorities and others, involving several hundred people. These include a public meeting in London in February 2002. DEFRA and the devolved administrations also carried out research projects to identify the views of the wider public, since traditional consultation exercises do not always reflect broader public opinion. These are summarised below.
10. Understanding and addressing issues of radioactive waste is the title of a seminar held at the Royal Over-Seas League on 28 February 2002 and organised by QMW Public Policy Seminars. Participants included a mixture of newcomers to the debate and people with previous experience of nuclear issues. The seminar included a series of presentations and discussion groups.
11. General public attitudes to the management of radioactive waste (Market Research Services, published July 2002) was designed as a qualitative exploration of the views of the general public about radioactive waste, to provide a benchmark of understanding to be used as an initial point of reference in the Government's work. It was one of the most broad based explorations of this topic since the mid 1980s. The work consisted of a programme of 8 focus groups (63 people), each group reconvened a week after an initial discussion. The first session explored levels of awareness and knowledge of radioactive waste and spontaneous attitudes to the topic, prior to the provision of factual information. The reconvened sessions explored the more informed and considered reactions of respondents to the topic and provided further information on current strategies for dealing with radioactive waste.
12. The main findings were that:
- people generally have at least a dim sense of radioactive waste as a unique modern-day threat;
- mostly they prefer not to think about it, and mainly do not;
- levels of knowledge are generally low;
- new information tends to increase fear and confusion and generates concern, or sometimes denial or indifference;
- people generally feel they should have a role in radioactive waste management decisions.
13. UK CEED Consensus Conference on Radioactive Waste: Reconvening Consensus Conference to consider DEFRA's consultation paper (UK CEED, published July 2002) The UK CEED group was established in 1999, when it took part in a consensus conference on radioactive waste management. This process allowed the group to consider radioactive waste issues over several months, and allowed access to many experts. In the spring of 2002, the panel was reconvened, and asked to focus on the topics in the Government's consultation paper.
14. The main conclusions were that:
- As far as public consultation is concerned, the consultation process will only work if the information given to the public is accepted as accurate, objective and complete by all interested parties;
- this relies critically on a general increase in the basic levels of public awareness of radioactive waste management and the issues involved;
- in all of this, the most important comment is about the need for openness, honesty and transparency - and the need for policy-makers to be seen to be listening.
- The Panel also made detailed comments on the structure of the nuclear sector, regulation and the consultation programme.
15. Managing radioactive waste safely: Engaging Scotland (Scottish Council Foundation, published 4 July 2002)
Managing radioactive waste safely: Awareness and attitudes of the Scottish public (Scottish Opinion Ltd, published 4 July 2002)
The Scottish Executive commissioned the Scottish Council Foundation (SCF) to undertake research to identify key elements of public involvement in Scotland and elsewhere, and to gauge awareness of the issues surrounding management of radioactive waste in Scotland. SCF carried out in-depth interviews and focus groups (including one specifically for a group of young people), in a number of areas across Scotland with members of the public and with stakeholders. During the fieldwork for the research Scottish Opinion Ltd were also commissioned to carry out an omnibus (telephone) survey to measure awareness and assess attitudes to radioactive waste.
16. The findings of these two projects reflect many of the views expressed in the DEFRA research and in written responses to the consultation paper. They show that people have a strong interest in radioactive waste and feel that the issue affects them personally, but they have low levels of awareness and are unfamiliar with the issues. They identified a need to improve how we communicate with people, tackle perceptions of secrecy about radioactive waste and its management, and explain this technical subject in ways that allow people to engage. The SCF report makes clear that it is not just Government which needs to do more - so too do the industry, our Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the media. It also shows that people are keen to participate in decisions on radioactive waste which will affect them, their children and future generations to come. There was also a desire for an open, participative and constructive decision-making process which involved all parties.
17. You can obtain fuller details of these reports on pages 20-21.