Radioactive waste management: a civil society perspective

Background

All Member States generate radioactive waste either from power generation or in the course of industrial, agricultural, medical and research activities, or through decommissioning of nuclear facilities. This requires practicable, accountable and sustainable decisions in order to safeguard social, health, environmental and economic interests for all EU citizens.

Considering the diverse role of nuclear science and technology for important sectors for society, it is crucial to ensure a broad participation, involvement and interaction of civil society in public decision-making regarding radioactive waste management. It is important to better understand and address effectively societal expectations, needs and concerns, notably at local, regional and national levels, based on the past and ongoing successful and unsuccessful experiences.

The European Commission (RTD) and the EESC (TEN Section) recently launched a collaboration including the European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD) with the aim to broaden the involvement of civil society representatives, especially in view of the launching of EURAD-2 in October 2024. Such cooperation includes a joint EC-EESC event on 17 October 2024 focusing on civil society views on radioactive waste management, where the conclusions and recommendations of the EESC's own-initiative opinion are presented.

Key points

The EESC:

• stresses that Member States should facilitate inclusive engagement, openness and transparency with civil society, including current host communities and potentially interested host communities, in all areas of RWM. Available funding should be used to increase the capacity of civil society groups, particularly local communities close to nuclear installations, to participate independently in projects and studies to assess participation and transparency practices in RWM.
• urges the Member States to assume all their responsibilities so as not to leave future generations with the burden of processing nuclear waste, whatever its nature, lifespan and hazard level. The development of shared solutions, including but not limited to multinational radioactive waste repositories, could be of interest to some EU Member States, particularly countries with small or medium-sized inventories.
• encourages the EU Member States to seek minimal amounts of waste for disposal, employing circular economy strategies to reduce radioactive waste generation to a minimum wherever possible.
• notes that the application of the directive is uneven in the Members States, resulting in a lack of comparable data. It calls on the Member States to improve the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in monitoring and reporting on the progress made in implementing the EU's Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Directive.
• encourages supporting the education and training of professionals and scientists in RWM and proposes ‘socio-technical approaches’ towards radioactive waste.

Additional information

Section: Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN)

Opinion number: TEN/842

Opinion type: Own-initiative

Rapporteur: Alena Mastantuono (Group I - Czech Republic)

Co-rapporteur: Christophe Quarez (Group II - France)

Date of adoption by section: 26 September 2024

Result of the vote: 70 in favour, 3 against, 4 abstentions

Date of adoption in plenary: 23-24 October 2024

Result of the vote: 172 in favour, 0 against, 6 abstentions

Contact

Marco Pezzani

Press Officer

Tel.: +32 2 546 9793 | Mob: +32 470 881 903

E-mail: marco.pezzani@eesc.europa.eu

Albert Precup

Administrator

Tel.: +32 546 9326

E-mail: albert.precup@eesc.europa.eu