On Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 July, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), hosted American and Canadian counterparts to share best practice around how best to deliver effective stakeholder engagement, which is critical to decommissioning.
Representatives from the United States Department of Energy (DoE) and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), took part in a two-day workshop to share successes and challenges, as part of a trilateral partnership agreed by the international bodies.
The partnership encourages collaboration on the successful decommissioning and remediation of legacy nuclear sites and the safe management of their radioactive waste, to ensure the protection of present and future generations and the environment.
The workshop focussed on how to increase and improve engagement, including utilising emerging technologies and digital communications.
Attendees explored how each body engages with communities, regulators, NGOs, local authorities, and government, with individuals from these organisations asked to also attend the workshop to ensure their opinions could be reflected in the outcomes, including representatives from the US and Canada.
The three countries also shared best practice on how to continue encouraging younger people to become aware of their respective missions, ensuring that not only their voices are heard but that they are also aware of the vast opportunities available for those considering a career within the industry.
John McNamara, NDA Head of Stakeholder Engagement, said:
Engagement around how we deliver our decommissioning mission is vital and it's been hugely valuable to host our international colleagues from US and Canada as part of our trilateral agreement to discuss how we involve our stakeholders in our work.
It's been an opportunity to share successes and utilise our collective knowledge and expertise to look at how we can overcome some common challenges.
It's also enabled all of us to get new ideas and inspiration so we can continue to improve how we engage and keep that conversation going.
In addition to the workshop, participants also visited Sellafield to find out more about nuclear waste processing and storage, and how the UK is tackling some of the most complex nuclear decommissioning challenges.
Kristen Ellis, EM Director of Regulatory, Intergovernmental and Stakeholder Engagement, said:
Clean-up completion is not possible without strong stakeholder engagement. Our success in completing the technical aspects of a clean-up is directly related to engagement with our Tribal, state, and local governments and our communities.
Our UK and Canadian colleagues provided a fresh perspective on stakeholder engagement. The dialogue generated new ideas for better reaching our audiences. We want the public to not just be informed but involved in our clean-up mission, so our success is their success, too.
Jason Cameron, Vice-President, Indigenous and Stakeholder Relations, AECL, said:
The Canadian delegation featured representatives from AECL which demonstrates our practice of involving partners and stakeholders directly. Even more, the unique Canadian context of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, who are exercising new models of self-government across the country, demands that we be flexible, creative, and adaptive to the needs of our partners.
That flexibility is a great lesson for everyone: it's important for us to engage and involve partners on terms that work for all. Seeing how international partners do things is inspiring for us and gives us fresh ideas we can adopt in Canada.
The formal trilateral partnership between the NDA, DoE and AECL was established in 2020 and seeks to enhance collaboration, whilst also improving the collective approaches to the decommissioning and remediation of legacy nuclear sites sustainably, reducing the impacts on communities and the environment.
The three organisations meet quarterly to share their experience and approaches to managing the decommissioning, remediation, and transformation of their legacy nuclear sites in the most effective, efficient, safe, and sustainable way.
A main principle of this shared approach is engaging with local communities and governments, Indigenous Peoples, and other stakeholder groups to identify optimum approaches for long-term land stewardship. The three bodies have also committed going forward to continue stakeholder participation and representation in any subsequent trilateral events.
If you would like to engage with the NDA on its work, please contact John McNamara, Head of Stakeholder Relations, on
