The Future of Radioactive Waste Governance: Lessons from Europe (Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz. Energy Policy and Climate Protection)

This Open Access book examines the radioactive waste management policies of ten European countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Most countries are in the process of planning and creating final storage solutions, while none has yet finalized this process. Over the past decades many countries have been renewing their decision-making processes and the institutions that support them. The book provides 16 lessons that may advance the future democratic decision-making process around radioactive waste management. Preface: The Future of Radioactive Waste Governance: Lessons from Europe Contents Editors and Contributors Abbreviations 1 Introduction: The Governance Challenge of Radioactive Waste Management 1.1 An Extreme Long-Term Governance Challenge 1.2 Ten Challenges of Radioactive Waste Management 1.3 Multi-Level Governance-Ecosystem Framework 1.3.1 Conceptual Background 1.3.2 Multi-Level Governance-Ecosystem Framework 1.4 A Reader’s Guide References 2 Long-Term Radioactive Waste Management in the Netherlands: Seeking Guidance for Decision-Making 2.1 Introduction 2.2 History of Radioactive Waste Management and Policy in the Netherlands 2.2.1 Development of the Nuclear Sector and Laws and Regulations for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection in the Netherlands 2.2.2 Realizing an Above-Ground Interim Storage Facility for Radioactive Waste 2.2.3 Deep Geological Disposal: Elaboration of Policy and Research 2.3 Current Challenges 2.3.1 Laws and Regulations 2.3.2 Policy and Administration 2.3.3 Science and Technology 2.3.4 Civil Society 2.4 Conclusions References 3 Nuclear Waste Governance in Italy: Between Participation Rhetoric and Regionalism 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Evolution of the Waste Management Strategy 3.2.1 Brief Historical Background 3.2.2 The Current Dimension of the Waste Problem 3.2.3 Early Attempts to Develop a Waste Disposal Concept 3.2.4 Recent Developments and Design of the National Repository 3.3 Nuclear Waste Politics, Administration and Legislation 3.3.1 Institutional Framework and Main Actors 3.3.2 The Long Road to the Establishment of an Independent Regulator 3.3.3 Operator/Implementer 3.3.4 The Legal Framework 3.4 The Science & Technology Domain 3.5 The Societal Domain and Its Interactions with the Political-Administrative and Scientific Domains 3.5.1 Italian Society and Nuclear Energy: An Evolving Relation 3.5.2 The Failure of the Past Top-Down Siting Policy 3.5.3 Site Identification and Participatory Siting Procedures 3.5.4 Participation in the Consultation Process and Position of the Main Actors 3.5.5 Plans vs. Reality: A Preliminary Assessment of the Participation Process 3.5.6 Voluntarism as an Option to Break the Stalemate? 3.6 Conclusion References 4 Do You Care About High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel? Opportunities for Co-Constructing an Appropriate Governance-Ecosystem in Belgium 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Activity 4.2.1 From Past to Present 4.2.2 Radioactive Waste Management Today 4.3 Imagining the Future for a Long-Term Governance Process in a Participatory Way 4.3.1 Framing the (Start of) the Debate(s) ... Again: What Are the Problems? 4.3.2 How to Organize the (Future) HLW Governance Process? 4.4 Building a Long-Term Governance Process Based on the Notion of ‘Caring’ 4.4.1 Long-Term Radioactive Waste Management is and will Remain a Socio-Technical Challenge 4.4.2 The Long-Term Management Solution is and will Remain Experimental by Nature 4.4.3 A Transparent and Democratic Way of Addressing This Challenge 4.4.4 Considering Belgian HLW and SNF as Matters of Care 4.5 Conclusion: Time for a Paradigm Shift? References 5 The Long Road Towards the Soft Nuclear Repository State: Nuclear Waste Governance in Germany 5.1 Introduction 5.2 From the Hard Nuclear State to More Participatory Approaches 5.2.1 Historical Context 5.2.2 The Nuclear Waste Problem Today 5.3 Nuclear Waste Governance: Legislation, Politics, Administration 5.3.1 The Legal Framework 5.3.2 The Political Dimension, Institutional Framework and Main Actors 5.3.3 The Institutional Actors 5.4 The Science & Technology Domain. Dealing with Expert/lay Knowledge and Society 5.4.1 Science, Technology and Civil Society 5.4.2 The Role of Experts and Committees 5.5 The Civil Societal Domain and Its Interactions with the Institutional and Scientific Domains 5.5.1 German Civil Society and the Nuclear Issue 5.5.2 Participation and Consultation in the Site Selection Process 5.6 Conclusions References 6 The Melancholic Lock: High-Level Radioactive Waste Governance in Spain 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The Spanish Nuclear Program in Context 6.3 Evolution of Radioactive Waste Management in Spain 6.3.1 Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste: Learning on the Job 6.3.2 High-Level Radioactive Waste: The Great Unfinished Business 6.4 The Actors 6.4.1 Politics and Administration 6.4.2 Science and Technology 6.4.3 Laws and Regulations 6.4.4 Civil Society 6.5 High-Level Nuclear Waste Management: The Vicissitudes of the ATC 6.5.1 Phase 1: The Preparation 6.5.2 Phase 2: The Decision 6.5.3 Phase 3: The Stalemate 6.6 Conclusion: Interactive Dynamics within the Country’s Governance Ecosystem References 7 Who Decides What is Safe? Experiences from Radioactive Waste Governance in Switzerland 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Radioactive Waste Management in Switzerland 7.2.1 Origins of Waste and Interim Storage 7.2.2 The Recent Evolution of Radioactive Waste Disposal 7.3 A Federalist Governance Ecosystem 7.3.1 Laws and Regulations 7.3.2 Population and Civil Society 7.3.3 Politics and Administration I—Cantons, Municipalities and Regions 7.3.4 Politics and Administration II—National Politics, Administration and the Implementer 7.3.5 Science and Technology 7.3.6 Interactions Between the Spheres 7.4 Current Topics in Nuclear Waste Governance 7.4.1 Sectoral Plan—and What Next? 7.4.2 Looming Debates 7.5 Conclusions on the Future Governance Ecosystem 7.5.1 Consensus Through Complexity 7.5.2 Pragmatism as a Virtue and a Limitation 7.5.3 Safety as a Socio-Technical Concept References 8 UK Nuclear Waste Policy: 50 Wasted Years 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Military and Civil Nuclear Programmes 8.3 Attempts to Identify Waste Disposal Sites 8.4 The Blair Programme 8.4.1 Resolving Important Issues of Nuclear Waste 8.5 Developments Since 2008 8.6 What Material is to Be Disposed of in a GDF? 8.6.1 Legacy Waste 8.6.2 New-Build Waste 8.6.3 Military Waste 8.7 The Proposed Geological Disposal Facility 8.7.1 Design 8.7.2 Cost and Employment 8.7.3 Timing 8.7.4 Regulation 8.7.5 Location 8.7.6 Retrievability 8.8 Community Consent 8.8.1 Right of Withdrawal 8.8.2 Test of Public Support 8.8.3 Engagement Funding 8.8.4 Community Investment Funding 8.8.5 Will the New Policy Yield a GDF? 8.9 Conclusions References 9 The Governance Ecosystem of Radioactive Waste Management in France: Governing of and with Mistrust 9.1 France as a Forerunner in High-Level Radioactive Waste Management 9.2 The Rocky Road Towards Becoming a Forerunner 9.2.1 The Roots of Mistrust: Chernobyl, a Technical Approach to Siting, and the Nucleocracy 9.2.2 Re-Establishing Trust, Reproducing Mistrust 9.2.3 Towards Implementation: The Cigéo Facility 9.2.4 Reversible Geological Disposal: A Key Concept for Alleviating and Managing Mistrust 9.3 Managing Mistrust in Practice: Institutions and Mechanisms for Articulating Between Domains 9.4 Outcomes of Cross-Domain Coordination: Current Debates on Nuclear Waste in France 9.4.1 Mistrust, Transparency, and “the State vs. Us” 9.4.2 Uncertainties, Intergenerational Justice, and Reversibility 9.4.3 Transparency, Openness, and Integration Across Domains: Any Impact on Policy? 9.4.4 The Ambiguous French Nuclear Legacies 9.5 Conclusions: Interaction Between the Governance Dimensions References 10 Radioactive Waste Management in Sweden: Decision-Making in a Context of Scientific Controversy 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Historic Background 10.2.1 Early Work Towards a Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel 10.3 Governance and Legal Framework: Two Parallel Tracks for Licensing 10.3.1 The Nuclear Activities Act 10.3.2 The Environmental Code 10.3.3 Access to Information, Public Participation, and Justice 10.3.4 The Two Parallel Tracks for Licensing: A Complex Process 10.4 The Long Decision-Making Process for a Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel 10.4.1 Siting of a Spent Fuel Repository—A Long Road to Acceptance 10.4.2 The Copper Corrosion Controversy 10.4.3 Consultation, License Application and Review 10.4.4 The Government Review of Copper Corrosion Issues 10.4.5 An Unexpected Development: New Experimental Packages from the LOT Project Retrieved with 20 years of Copper Corrosion 10.4.6 The Government Decision 10.5 Some Final Observations References 11 The Finnish Solution to Final Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel 11.1 Introduction 11.2 History of Nuclear Waste Management (NWM) in Finland 11.2.1 NWM Before Finland Entered the EU in 1995 11.2.2 Decision-In-Principle and Licensing of ONKALO 11.2.3 Cooperation Between Posiva and Fennovoima 11.3 Scientific and Technological Challenges 11.3.1 Stability of the Bedrock 11.3.2 The KBS-3 V Concept 11.3.3 Temporary Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel 11.4 Financing of Nuclear Waste Management 11.5 Structural Corporatism in Finnish Decision-Making 11.6 Weak Social Inclusion in Decision-Making on Nuclear Waste 11.6.1 Limited Public Participation 11.6.2 Weak Anti-Nuclear Movement 11.6.3 The Role of Media 11.7 Conclusions: The Future of Final Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Finland References 12 European Lessons for the Governance of Long-Term Radioactive Waste Management 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The Participatory Turn in RWM Governance 12.3 RWM Governance in the Context of Nuclear Energy 12.4 RWM as a Multi-Level Governance Phenomenon 12.5 Politics and Administration: Working on Shared Principles and Separation of Responsibilities 12.6 Laws and Regulations: Creating a Legal Basis for Decision-Making Around RWM Options 12.7 Science and Technology Domain: Towards an Institutionally Diverse Knowledge Landscape 12.8 Civil Society: The Challenge of Informing and Engaging Civil Society 12.9 Overview of European Lessons for Radioactive Waste Governance References