NEA Mandates and Structures

Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC)

Chair(s):	Pascale KÜNZI, Switzerland	Secretary:	Kamishan MARTIN (kamishan.martin@oecd-nea.org)
Vice-Chair(s):	Sigrid EECKHOUT, Belgium Jo-Ann FACELLA, Canada Nuria PRIETO SERRANO, Spain David BRAZIER, United Kingdom Christopher MARKLEY, United States
Member(s):	All NEA member countries^*
	Russia (Suspended*)
	^*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council.
Full participant(s):	European Commission Under the NEA Statute
Observer(s)(International Organisation):	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) By agreement
Date of creation:	01 August 2000
End of mandate:	31 December 2022

Mandate (Document reference):

Mandate of the RWMC Working Party “Forum on Stakeholder
Summary record of the 33^rd Session of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee held in March 2000 [NEA/RWM(2000)2]
Forum on Stakeholder Confidence Mandate – Phase 2 [NEA/RWM(2003)4/REV2]
Mandate of the RWMC Working Party “Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC)" [NEA/RWM(2005)13/REV3]
Mandates of the RWMC Regulator’s Forum and the RWMC working Parties FSC, IGSC and WPDD [NEA/RWM(2011)1]
Mandates of the RWMC Regulator’s Forum and the RWMC working Parties FSC, IGSC and WPDD [NEA/RWM(2013)2/PROV]
Mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) 2017-2019 [NEA/RWM/FSC(2016)3]
Mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) 2020-2022 [NEA/RWM/FSC(2019)2PROV]
Extended and modified mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) [NEA/RWM/FSC/M(2020)2/FINAL]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document NEA/RWM/FSC/M(2020)2/FINAL

Introduction

Because of changes in society’s decision-making environment and heightened public sensitivity to all matters connected with environmental protection, nuclear power, radioactivity and especially radioactive waste, any decision regarding whether, when and how to implement waste management solutions and how to complete the decommissioning processes will typically require thorough public examination and the involvement of relevant stakeholders. The involvement of stakeholders is becoming increasingly important as countries are continuing or starting decommissioning projects and as they start to develop their strategic choices for long-term radioactive waste management, and/or move towards siting and developing final repositories. Since the decision-making process and avenues for stakeholders’ involvement differ from country to country, it is important to identify similarities and differences, understand the key concerns of various stakeholders and develop means to interact effectively with the different audiences.

Description and composition

The Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) supports the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) and the Committee on Decommissioning and Legacy Management (CDLM) by:

facilitating the interchange of experiences and opinions among stakeholders of the participating organisations
reviewing the experience of stakeholder involvement programmes worldwide

The FSC is a discipline-oriented working group and is composed of representatives of national organisations with responsibility, overview and experience in the field of building stakeholders’ confidence. Participation of RWMC and CDLM members or that of members of other NEA subsidiary bodies dealing with societal issues in the FSC is a good means to enhance the co-ordination of the work of the FSC with that of the RWMC, CDLM and other working parties.

Objectives

The objectives of the FSC are as follows:

as directed by the RWMC and the CDLM, to define, oversee and carry out work programme activities in the strategic area of public understanding, expectations and stakeholder confidence;
to advise the RWMC and the CDLM on major and emerging issues in the area of public understanding and stakeholder confidence related to radioactive waste management, decommissioning and legacy management;
to analyse, document and provide recommendations on current and future processes for embedding waste management programmes into a socio-political decision-making context;
in close co-operation with the CDLM, to examine and further develop the link between decommissioning, legacy management, decision-making and public confidence and acceptance;
to share FSC members’ experiences, information and current practices to help advance their skills in establishing and maintaining confidence among stakeholders in radioactive waste management projects, decommissioning and legacy management programmes;
to provide a diverse and supportive setting for FSC members, stakeholders and academic community to engage in dialogue on finding long-term solution for RWM, decommissioning and legacy management and enhance mutual learning;
to provide input to the national and international processes and dialogue, showing how an early involvement of a wide range of stakeholders can help in designing and implementing stronger decision-making processes.

Methods of working

The FSC shall establish: (i) a highly task-oriented working programme to identify resources and schedules for the issues at hand; (ii) expert groups and/or task groups and workshops can be envisaged, as appropriate; (iii) means to review the working programme and the effectiveness of the FSC.

Communication within the group takes place through at least one yearly plenary meeting. The plenary meeting will be devoted to:

Exchange of information on recent development in the member countries;
In-depth discussions of current developments and of topical issues, where specialists from outside the FSC can also be invited;
The discussion and co-ordination of the working programme;
The identification of main lessons to be reported to the RWMC and CDLM, including organising topical sessions at the committees’ plenary meetings.

Duration of the mandate

By the current document, this mandate will expire 31 December 2022 as approved by the RWMC and CDLM respectively on 4 February 2020.