Demonstration and Dialogue : Mediation in Swedish Nuclear Waste Management

Abstract

This report analyses mediation and mediators in Swedish nuclear waste management. Mediation is about establishing agreement and building common knowledge. It is argued that demonstrations and dialogue are the two prominent approaches to mediation in Swedish nuclear waste management. Mediation through demonstration is about showing, displaying, and pointing out a path to safe disposal for inspection. It implies a strict division between demonstrator and audience. Mediation through dialogue on the other hand, is about collective acknowledgements of uncertainty and suspensions of judgement creating room for broader discussion. In Sweden, it is the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB) that is tasked with finding a method and a site for the final disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. Two different legislative frameworks cover this process. In accordance with the Act on Nuclear Activities, SKB is required to demonstrate the safety of its planned nuclear waste management system to the government, while in respect of the Swedish Environmental Code, they are obliged to organize consultations with the public. How SKB combines these requirements is the main question under investigation in this report in relation to materials deriving from three empirical settings: 1) SKB’s safety analyses, 2) SKB’s public consultation activities and 3) the ‘dialogue projects’, initiated by other actors than SKB broadening the public arena for discussion. In conclusion, an attempt is made to characterise the longterm interplay of demonstration and dialogue in Swedish nuclear waste management