Public acceptance can be a major obstacle to initiating or even expanding a nuclear power programme. Hence, designing and implementing stakeholder involvement programmes for such projects can be a challenge. Underlining the importance of nurturing public acceptance, experts from 20 countries met 4-7 November 2014 in Bristol, United Kingdom, to develop effective techniques and messages to engage with decision makers and the public on nuclear power projects.
Hosted by EDF Energy, the four day IAEA workshop - Technical Meeting on Effective Techniques and Messages to Engage with Decision Makers and the Public - provided practical guidance regarding public communication techniques. It enabled participants to practice creating and coordinating messages related to the planning and implementation of new nuclear power projects.
“There is an impact of any new programme, whether energy or infrastructure or specifically for the UK,” said Mike Harrison, Chief Nuclear Officer at EDF Energy. ”That is the impact to the people living in the area, traffic, transport during construction, excitement of young people for what opportunities it creates for jobs and wealth. “We need to be open and transparent. We have to respect that not everybody is for nuclear power and we must answer the questions.”
From the UK experience, participants learnt what worked well, and what did not, at a national and local level. Innovative methods were also employed at the meeting to convey the importance of communication and stakeholder involvement. A board game specifically designed for the workshop was the highlight: Players of “The Nuclear Journey – Building trust to build a nuclear plant" faced questions about or challenges to their stakeholder involvement plans through the three phases of developing the infrastructure for new nuclear build.
During the technical visit to Hinkley Point C, the proposed site for building two new nuclear power reactors, delegates from newcomer countries were impressed with the complexity of the project, which already has a large variety of contractors and subcontractors in place despite being at its early stage. The examples of providing the dwellings closest to the site with double pane windows to mitigate the noise of construction, planting a vast area with trees or building a structure for a species of bats that is close to extinction drove home the importance of strong commitment by the nuclear industry and local authorities to stakeholder involvement and their need to work together.
“It has been a steep learning curve for both the local authorities and EDF energy,” said David Hall, County Councillor of the Somerset County Council and the officer responsible for economic development, including new nuclear, in the county. “We developed a friendly but adversarial relationship. Now, we are on the cusp of a change. We need to move the adversarial relationship into a side by side, as it is important to demonstrate to the public that we are working together to deliver the maximum benefit to everyone.”
Successful stakeholder involvement programmes begin by listening to and addressing stakeholders’ concerns. They then entail engaging those stakeholders, providing timely information openly and building trust and credibility that will serve the programme throughout its life time. Often, there is a need to communicate first about energy policies and second to strengthen public understanding of nuclear power, especially its benefits and risks.
One way to do this is by communicating about the basics of electricity generation, national energy policy and objectives for economic growth in the Member State. Nuclear power becomes an underlying topic in these discussions and allows for the various organizations involved in the nuclear power programme to build their communication tools, messages and reputations in the scope of the bigger picture of their country’s national goals.
The IAEA has organized annual meetings on stakeholder involvement since 2012 and has seen increasing interest in them from both nuclear newcomers as well as operating and expanding countries. The next meetings are planned in 2015 in Finland and Japan.