ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL PARTICIPATION in the sectoral plan procedure to search for sites for deep geological repositories Implementation and experiences Bern, 29 January 2014 COO.2207.110.2.1051839 PUBLISHING INFORMATION Publisher: Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE, 3003 Bern Project support: Simone Brander Agent: PLANVAL, Studien-Evaluationen-Kommunikation, 3008 Bern Author: Eva Bühlmann, geographer Project team: Eva Bühlmann, geographer (project management) Sebastian Bellwald, geographer Mathias Blatter, communication studies specialist Kristin Bonderer, geographer Marisa Saladin, seeconsult GmbH Citation format: Author: PLANVAL Title: Establishing regional participation in the sectoral plan procedure to search for sites for deep geological repositories – implementation and experiences. Publisher: Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE Town: Bern Date: January 2014 PLANVAL Studien-Evaluationen-Kommunikation Laupenstrasse 20 3008 Bern Phone +41 27 922 40 80 Fax +41 27 922 40 89 [email protected] www.planval.ch PLANVAL Establishment of regional participation in the sectoral plan procedure to search for sites for deep geological repositories 1 Contents Publishing information ......................................................................................................................... 2 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 3 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Current situation ...................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Sectoral Plan for Deep Geological Repositories ..................................................................... 4 1.3. Regional participation .............................................................................................................. 4 1.4. Participation at the end of October 2013 ................................................................................. 5 1.5. Purpose of the report ............................................................................................................... 5 2. From the conceptual part of the sectoral plan to the Concept for regional participation ...... 8 2.1. Establishment of the Concept for regional participation .......................................................... 8 2.2. Definition and principles of regional participation .................................................................... 9 2.3. Main steps in establishing regional participation ................................................................... 10 3. Provisional siting regions ........................................................................................................... 12 3.1. Definition of the provisional siting regions ............................................................................. 12 3.2. Description of the provisional siting regions .......................................................................... 13 3.3. Conclusions reached about the provisional siting regions .................................................... 16 4. Participating players and cooperation ....................................................................................... 18 4.1. Definition of the main participating players ............................................................................ 18 4.2. Formation of the start teams .................................................................................................. 19 4.3. Procedure followed to define the tasks and roles of the start teams..................................... 22 4.4. Qualification of the members of start teams .......................................................................... 23 4.5. Selection of the start moderators........................................................................................... 24 4.6. Competences of the start moderators ................................................................................... 25 4.7. Roles and tasks of start moderators ...................................................................................... 27 4.8. Cooperation with the principle players .................................................................................. 28 4.9. Conclusions about the participating players and cooperation ............................................... 31 5. Structure of the regional participatory bodies .......................................................................... 32 5.1. Requirements of the concept................................................................................................. 32 5.2. Implementation ...................................................................................................................... 34 5.3. Conclusions on the structure of regional participatory bodies ............................................... 35 6. Search for members and composition of regional conferences ............................................. 36 6.1. Composition of the regional conference ................................................................................ 36 6.2. Finding participants ............................................................................................................... 38 6.3. Regional conferences ............................................................................................................ 42 6.4. Conclusions drawn after the search for members and composition of regional conferences43 7. Role of communication................................................................................................................ 45 7.1. Objectives of communication ................................................................................................. 45 7.2. Measures implemented ......................................................................................................... 45 7.3. Responsibilities ...................................................................................................................... 46 7.4. Role of the cantons ................................................................................................................ 46 7.5. Role of the SFOE .................................................................................................................. 46 7.6. Interest and reactions in the population ................................................................................ 47 7.7. Interest in the press ............................................................................................................... 47 7.8. Conclusions drawn on communication .................................................................................. 47 8. Time plan and cost of establishing participation ..................................................................... 49 8.1. Time scale ............................................................................................................................. 49 8.2. Cost of the set-up process in the provisional siting regions .................................................. 50 8.3. Conclusions drawn about the time plan and the costs .......................................................... 51 PLANVAL Establishment of regional participation in the sectoral plan procedure to search for sites for deep geological repositories 2 9. Success factors from the standpoints of start teams and start moderators ......................... 52 9.1. Start team personnel and start moderators ........................................................................... 52 9.2. Flexible regional implementation ........................................................................................... 52 9.3. Clarity about processes and objectives ................................................................................. 52 9.4. Sufficient time resources ....................................................................................................... 53 9.5. Regional factors ..................................................................................................................... 53 10. Lessons learned and recommendations ................................................................................... 55 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................................ 60 References ........................................................................................................................................... 76 Abbreviations HLW high-level waste LLW low and intermediate level waste Nagra National Co-operative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste NPP nuclear power plant RC regional conference RP regional participation SFOE Swiss Federal Office of Energy SM start moderator ST start team PLANVAL Establishment of regional participation in the sectoral plan procedure to search for sites for deep geological repositories 3 Summary The search and selection procedure for sites for deep geological repositories in Switzerland has been set up to guarantee that the interests and needs of the siting regions are taken into consideration. To this end, participatory bodies were founded in all six potential siting regions. These bodies consist of representatives from the municipalities affected as well as from organisations