Key Performance Criteria Affecting the Most the Safety of a Nuclear Waste Long Term Storage : A Case Study Commissioned by CEA

As part of the work scope set in the French law on high level long lived waste R&D passed in 1991, CEA is conducting a research program to establish the scientific basis and assess the feasibility of long term storage as an option for the safe management of nuclear waste for periods as long as centuries. This goal is a significant departure from the current industrial practice where storage facilities are usually built to last only a few decades. From a technical viewpoint such an extension in time seems feasible provided care and maintenance is exercised. Considering such long periods of time, the risk for Society of loosing oversight and control of such a facility is real, which triggers the question of whether and how long term storage safety can be actually achieved. Therefore CEA commissioned a study (1) in which MUTADIS Consultants (2) and CEPN (3) were both involved. The case study looks into several past and actual human enterprises conducted over significant periods o f time, one of them dating back to the end of the 18th century, and all identified out of the nuclear field. Then-prevailing societal behavior and organizational structures are screened out to show how they were or are still able to cope with similar oversight and control goals. As a result, the study group formulated a set of performance criteria relating to issues like responsibility, securing funds, legal and legislative implications, economic sustainable development, all being areas which are not traditionally considered as far as technical studies are concerned. These criteria can be most useful from the design stage onward, first in an attempt to define the facility construction and operating guiding principles, and thereafter to substantiate the safety case for long term storage and get geared to the public dialogue on that undertaking should it become a reality

Un premier bilan des effets psychiques et sociaux de l'accident de Tchernobyl

Cet article présente la synthèse d'une série d'enquêtes réalisées en Ukraine en 1992 et 1993 sur les conséquences psychiques et sociales de l'accident de Tchernobyl, dans le cadre du “Programme d'évaluation des conséquences de l'accident nucléaire de Tchernobyl” de la Commission des Communautés Européennes. Les principaux résultats confirment la puissance de la dynamique post-accidentelle de cet accident, après plus de sept ans. Près de 3 millions de personnes sont directement concernées dans leur vie quotidienne par le dispositif de gestion post-accidentelle qui est à l'origine de nombreux effets pervers aux plans social et psychique. Au plan économique, le financement du dispositif de gestion post-accidentelle absorbe chaque année près de 1/6 du budget de l'état ukrainien. Au plan politique, Tchernobyl est encore un enjeu majeur pour les différents acteurs du processus de transition institutionnel engagé depuis la disparition du système soviétique. L'article montre la complexité systémique de la situation rencontrée sur le terrain et présente les multiples facteurs explicatifs (physiques, sanitaires, politiques, culturels, historiques) qui sont à l'origine de la dynamique post-accidentelle. Une modélisation systémique des interactions entre ces facteurs est proposée. Elle permet de mieux cerner la contribution des différentes étapes accidentelles et post-accidentelles dans le processus qui a conduit à la situation actuelle. Elle montre notamment les liens étroits entre les différentes étapes de l'accident et la nécessité de prendre en compte, dès le début d'un accident, les conséquences à moyen et long terme qui découlent de la gestion accidentelle

Local Stakeholder involvement in the perspective of nuclear waste management: Lessons from the COWAN network

The management of high level radioactive waste is nowadays recognised as a complex decision-making where no solution can be reached solely on the basis of technical considerations. While this issue is acknowledged as a problem for the community as a whole, waste management remains a global problem looking for a local solution. Starting from this view, COWAM network (Community Waste Management), developed under the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission, addressed the following objectives: 1) To empower local actors through a networking process; 2) To gather and discuss the available experiences of decision-making processes at the local level within their national context in Europe; 3) To set up an arena for balanced exchanges between local actors, NGOs, regulators and implementers; 4) To promote new approaches to decision-making in national contexts in Europe. COWAM network comprises 230 delegates from 10 European countries, involving in priority local communities and NGOs. The emphasis put on the local participation enabled members of COWAM network to overcome distrust and to build common lessons and views beyond usual stakeholder positions. Through the analysis of case studies different issues were identified, among them two relate more specifically to expertise and environmental quality in the long term and sustainable development

Supporting people building their own response to the consequences of a nuclear accident: complexity management, trust and the Aarhus Convention

PREPARE work package on “Information and participation of the public” has investigated the conditions and means for pertinent, reliable and trustworthy information to be made available to the public in due time and according to its needs in the course of nuclear emergency and post-emergency contexts. These works addressed three different issues: experts-to-expert interactions in an emergency and post-emergency situation, information and participation of local populations affected by a post-accident situation, and communication with traditional and social media in nuclear or radiological emergencies. These three directions of work shared common perspectives and hypotheses. The first one was the specific perspective on information and participation of the public of the Aarhus Convention (1998), according to which information and participation of he public is required in order for affected people to take action in order “to take measures to prevent or mitigate harm arising from the threat”. The second common conceptual basis is the acknowledgement of the complexity of a post-accident situation and the non-linear character of the system of information and action in such situations, which integrated a wide diversity of actors and of information providers. Finally, following Niklas Luhman's works, trust is addressed as a tool to address complexity

Local populations facing long-term consequences of nuclear accidents: lessons learnt from Chernobyl and Fukushima

After a large-scale nuclear accident, local populations face a high level of complexity, as their day-to-day life is seriously disrupted by the short and long term consequences of the event. Affected populations face numerous decisions related to their daily life and trade-offs in order to cope with a whole range of unfamiliar issues associated with the long-lasting radioactive contamination. This includes the choice to leave, stay or return in the contaminated zone. Feedback of the Chernobyl and Fukushima post-accident situations in Norway and Japan based on the results of the PREPARE European research project brings insights on the complexity of nuclear post-accident situations in modern democracies involving long-lasting contamination. The main goal of the project was to evaluate how and to what extent local populations can access reliable information to protect themselves and participate to collective decisions, as foreseen in the terms of the Aarhus Convention (1998) on public information & participation of the UNECE (United Economic Commission for Europe). After an accident, individuals and families, professionals, local communities, public authorities and experts have various response paths that are frequently conflicting. An analysis of the societal mechanisms was performed to identify the interactions of the different paths, the role of values in these social mechanisms as well as the impact of public policies on the resilience and social cohesion of local communities and on their capacity to build their own recovery strategies. It demonstrates the importance of a holistic approach that includes all the societal dimensions of the responses to post-accident situations. The capacity of local actors to build their response to the crisis depends on their capacity to build new forms of cooperation among themselves and with other actors and relevant networks

Prepare Innovative integrated tools and platforms for radiological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in europe

International audienceThe PREPARE project that started in February 2013 and will end at the beginning of 2016 aims to close gaps that have been identified in nuclear and radiological preparedness in Europe following the first evaluation of the Fukushima disaster. Among others, the project will address the review of existing operational procedures for dealing with long-lasting releases and crossborder problems in radiation monitoring and food safety and further develop missing functionalities in decision support systems (DSS) ranging from improved source-term estimation and dispersion modelling to the inclusion of hydrological pathways for European water bodies. In addition, a so-called Analytical Platform will be developed exploring the scientific and operational means to improve information collection, information exchange and the evaluation of such types of disasters. The tools developed within the project will be partly integrated into the two DSS ARGOS and RODOS. © The Author 2014

Nuclear and radiological preparedness: The achievements of the European research project prepare

International audienceThe PREPARE project aimed closing gaps identified in nuclear and radiological preparedness in Europe following the first evaluation of the Fukushima disaster. With 46 partners from Europe and Japan, it collected the key players in the area of emergency management and rehabilitation preparedness. Starting from February 2013, the project ended in January 2016. Among others, the project reviewed existing operational procedures for long-lasting releases, cross-border problems in radiation monitoring and food safety and further developed missing functionalities in decision support systems ranging from improved source term estimation and dispersion modelling to the inclusion of hydrological pathways for European water bodies. In addition, a so-called Analytical Platform has been developed to explore the scientific and operational means to improve information collection, information exchange and the evaluation of such types of disasters. The tools developed within the project will be partly integrated into the decision support systems ARGOS and JRODOS

Innovative integrative tools and platforms. Key results of the PREPARE European Project

The European project PREPARE (Innovative integrated tools and platforms for radiological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in Europe) aims at closing gaps that have been identified in nuclear and radiological preparedness following the first evaluation of the Fukushima disaster. It started February 2013 and ended January 2016. Fourty-six partners from Europe and Japan, among them universities, national research centres, operational emergency management centres and non-governmental organisations, performed research to close gaps identified following the Fukushima disaster. Among others, the project addressed the review of existing operational procedures for dealing with long lasting releases, cross border problems in radiation monitoring and food safety and further development of missing functionalities in decision support systems ranging from improved source term estimation and dispersion modelling to the inclusion of hydrological pathways for European water bodies. In addition, a so called Analytical Platform was developed exploring the scientific and operational means to improve information collection, information exchange and the evaluation of such types of disasters. The tools developed within the project will be integrated into the two decision support systems ARGOS and RODOS. © EDP Sciences 2016