Stakeholder Participation in the Environmental Clean Up of Radioactive Wastes in the United Kingdom, Japan and United States

Abstract

We review our program of research on stakeholder participation with environmental cleanup from radioactive wastes in the United States, Japan and United Kingdom (e.g., [21,26,27,66]). Citizen participation programs in all three countries are at different stages: mature in the US, starting in Japan, and becoming operational in the UK. The US issue at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina (SC) had been focused on citizens encouraging Federal (Department of Energy, or DOE; Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA) and State (SC's Department of Health and Environmental Compliance, or DHEC) agencies to aggressively pursue "Plug-in-RODs" at SRS to reduce the paperwork involved in order to accelerate the closure of seepage basins at SRS. The issue in Japan is an effective division of labor among participants and the representation of different perspectives in the deliberation process, including citizens. The UK issue is centered around effective citizen participation with the UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Looking at our program of research, our hope is that a review of the programs in these three countries may improve citizen advisory programs.