The Future of Radioactive Waste Governance: lessons from Europe

This Open Access book examines the radioactive waste management policies of ten European countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Most countries are in the process of planning and creating final storage solutions, while none has yet finalized this process. Over the past decades many countries have been renewing their decision-making processes and the institutions that support them. The book provides 16 lessons that may advance the future democratic decision-making process around radioactive waste management.

Introduction: The governance challenge of radioactive waste management -- Long-term radioactive waste management in the Netherlands: Seeking guidance for decision-making -- Nuclear Waste Governance in Italy: between participation rhetoric and regionalism -- Do you care about High-level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel? Opportunities for co-constructing an appropriate governance-ecosystem in Belgium -- The long road towards the soft nuclear repository state Nuclear waste governance in Germany -- The melancholic lock. High-Level Radioactive Waste Governance in Spain -- Who Decides What is Safe? Experiences from Radioactive Waste Governance in Switzerland -- UK nuclear waste policy: 50 wasted years -- The governance ecosystem of radioactive waste management in France: governing of and with mistrust -- Radioactive waste management in Sweden: Decision making in a context of scientific controversy -- The Finnish solution to final disposal of spent nuclear fuel -- European lessons for governance of long-term radioactive waste management.