On December 2–3, in Kyiv, in the framework of the Tenth Annual Topical Meeting on Nuclear and Radiation Safety and in connection with the Tenth anniversary of establishment of the State Nuclear Regulation Committee of Ukraine (SNRCU), the First National Roundtable on the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear was held. The event was organised by UNENGO MAMA-86 (moderator), SNRCU and the National Association of Local Information Commissions and Committees of France (ANCCLI).

The roundtable was conducted in the framework of joint EC-ANCCLI launched European dialogue — RT on the Aarhus Convention[1] and Nuclear[2]».

Following the European process of pluralistic discussions on the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear matters, the First National Roundtable (RT) in Ukraine sought to identify and understand practical problems of implementation of Aarhus Convention principles and provisions in the nuclear sphere; to conduct the first assessment of the problems encountered and to agree on the list of priority issues for Ukraine.

Olena Mykolaichuk — the SNRCU Chairperson and Ivan Makarenko — the deputy Minister of Environment of Ukraine welcomed participants of National RT. Monique Sené — the vice-President of ANCCLI presented the general background of establishment of the European RT format. The participants were presented a more detailed account of the joint EC-ANCCLI initiative in presentations of Jean Coadou (DG ENER official) and Serge Gadbois (ANCCLI expert).

Jan Haverkamp (Greenpeace) — a multiyear partner of Ukrainian NGOs — highlighted experience of implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the sphere of nuclear energy in Central Europe. French experience, including in particular the Act on Transparency and Safety in the Nuclear Field was presented by Marie-Pierre Comets (the ASN Commissioner), while Yves Lhereux presented activities of the local information commission of Graveline town.

The meeting was also attended by leading independent European experts on matters of the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear — Kjell Andersson (Karita Research, Sweden), Magdi Toth Nagy (REC CEE, Hungary), as well as Andreas Molin (the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria) and others. Governmental officials, regulators, operators, officials of Environmental Ministries and local authorities, public experts from different countries and representatives of international organisations also took part in the dialogue.

Organisers of the event managed to gather the most prominent Ukrainian NGO experts who were engaged for a long time into Ukrainian and international activities associated with issues of implementation of the Aarhus Convention, transparency and access to information in the nuclear sphere, and public participation in addressing development of the energy sector, such as Serhii Kurykin (the Chairman of SNRCU Public Council), Oleksiy Tolkachov (the Public National Security Council), Tetiana Timochko (VEL), Dmitro Skrylnikov (Environmental Investigation Bureau), Olga Melen (“Environment. People. Law.”, Lviv), Olga Lyastchyk (Eco-Club, Rivne), Dmytro Khmara (NECU), Yuriy Babinin (Nikopol City Council). Experts of “Zeleniy Svit” Ukrainian Environmental Association also actively participated in the meeting.

At the closing session, facilitated by Magdi Toth Nagy, the participants discussed and finally agreed on Summary conclusions. The document provides for establishment of the permanent National Roundtable on the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear, lists the priority issues for RT discussions and provides recommendations on its further activities.

As Ganna Golubovska-Onisimova, the President of MAMA-86 UNENGO said, “Since the Chernobyl disaster, issues of access to information on nuclear and radiation safety matters were always acute in Ukraine. SNRCU is one of the most transparent central governmental bodies that always actively engaged the public into cooperation. Nevertheless, there are many problems outside the sphere of competence of the regulator, which are related to with access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on nuclear energy matters. The most pressing problem is associated with underdeveloped legal frameworks for implementation of the Aarhus Convention, in order to address the problem it is necessary to review, develop, approve and enforce procedures for public information and public participation in decision-making in the nuclear field”.

As other priority issues for discussion in the framework of the process, the roundtable participants also mentioned problems of compliance with the Aarhus Convention and the underlying legal framework to ensure engagement of the public/stakeholders into strategic decision-making on development of energy sources (in particular, into development or revision of the Energy Strategy); local capacity building for information provision and involvement of local communities into decision-making on selection of energy sources; development of independent expert capacity and meeting demand in expert assessments and knowledge on nuclear energy, its health effects for residents of impact zones of nuclear facilities, etc.

Here you can find summary conclusions, the RT agenda and contents of expert presentations.

• Aarhus Convention and Nuclear (ACN): an EC-ANCCLI common initiative, Mr Jean Coadou, DG ENER; Serge Gadbois, ANCCLI
• Experience with the Aarhus Convention implementation on Nuclear in Central Europe: Lessons to be Learned, Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace
• Act on Transparency and Safety in the Nuclear Field, Marie-Pierre Comets, ASN, France
• Access to Belarus NPP EEA information in transboundary context, Olga Lyaschuk, Eco-Club, Rivne
• Austrian experience on access to EEA information regarding different nuclear new built projects in neighboring countries, Andreas Molin, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria
• Regular information provision to the public at the local level, Yves Lhereux, ANCCLI, France
• SNRCU: information provision to the public, Daria Fridman, Infoatom
• EU and Swedish Law and Practice on Public Participation in Nuclear and Radiation Waste Decision Making, Kjell Andersson, Karita Research, Sweden
• Public Participation Practice in Nuclear Decision Making in Ukraine, Dmytro Khmara, NECU
• Access to justice - case studies, Olia Melen, Eco-Pravo, Lviv

Contacts: Oksana Mayboroda, +38044 456-13-38, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fotos from the Round table published in our gallery

[1] The Aarhus Convention on Public Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (inc. issues pertaining to nuclear industry development) was ratified by Ukraine in 1999.

[2] In September 2009, the European Commission and ANCCLI decided to launch the European dialogue on the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear, allowing European countries to follow the initiative in the format of national roundtables with application of a common methodology.