CORDIS Archive

August
2002

Not in my back yard, please

It hits the headlines, it arouses passions, and it is a subject of widespread concern. Nuclear waste. How much, though, do Europeans actually know about the subject - and who do we trust to tell us about it? Eurobarometer reports on the public's low level of knowledge, limited confidence in the powers that be and their hopes that something will be done soon.

Probably more than any other waste form, it hits the headlines with almost metronomic regularity. A ship laden with it causing protests at its port of destination, a train carrying it being blocked by demonstrators, objections over the siting of a processing plant. And when these incidents happen, all the interested parties are eager to put across their point of view.

But do Europeans have an informed and accurate view on the issue? Do we know the sources and consequences of radioactive waste? Furthermore, do we trust the 'experts' we hear, see and read when they are handing down information?

The European Commission's Energy and Transport DG has been trying to find out how we feel. Using a leading market research company, and working with the Commission's press and communications arm, it has produced this Eurobarometer report on our attitudes to, and knowledge of, nuclear waste. The survey of 16,000 people in every EU country was carried out in autumn 2001.

Some of the figures the report comes up with are eye-popping. 48% of Belgians consider themselves 'not very well informed' on the issue, compared to just 12% of Swedes. And across the EU 32% of people trust independent scientists' opinions and 31% have faith in what they hear from NGOs - but they simply do not believe EU bodies (11% confidence), nor the nuclear industry itself (10%). For the European institutions, in particular, this must be very disappointing - yet at the same time it is reassuring to see it honestly reported. If the public is losing confidence in the authoritativeness of 'authority', it seems there is a serious bridge-building job to be done - one that the Convention is now tackling.

Loss of faith is not total though: three years ago 75% of people thought each country should keep its nuclear waste to itself, whereas now only 63% think so. Concomitantly, the share favouring European-level waste treatment has risen from 12% to 18%.

The amount of radiation that waste emits naturally falls over time, but there is unfortunately no way to speed up the rate of decay. Reprocessing is no panacea because though it separates out the most dangerous waste isotopes (which then need very special attention) from the reusable ones, it also is an industrial process with its own inherent problems associated with effluents and discharges to the environment. Hence the inevitability of very long-term waste storage or disposal deep under the earth. On this score, the population is becoming more realistic: just under half those interviewed (as against three-quarters in 1998) think that there is no safe way to manage high-level waste. And they are equally divided about the most serious risks of living near a waste disposal site, giving equal ratings for those due to immediate threats such as leaks and those affecting health and the environment in the longer term.

This Eurobarometer survey shows that, in the absence of a better alternative, Europe is learning to live with nuclear power. The majority realise that it does not produce greenhouse gas emissions so does not contribute to climate change. In fact, if the waste can be safely managed, the majority of Europeans believe that nuclear energy should continue to be used to produce electricity. And the very large majority - over 90% - want the present generation to take responsibility now for the waste we produce - and not leave it to future generations to manage.