On February 21, 2013, the National Roundtable on the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear domain “Towards Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Ukraine Through Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue” took place in Kyiv. It was organized by the Ukrainian Environmental NGO “MAMA-86” together with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine and with support of the Embassy of Switzerland to Ukraine.

The event was held in the framework of the European process “Aarhus Convention and Nuclear”, launched in 2009 by the European Commission and the National Association of Local Information Commissions of France (ANCCLI) in order to assess the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear field in Europe, identify best practices and develop recommendations to improve the situation. Ukraine is the only non-EU member-state represented in this initiative, due to the active role of the Ukrainian roundtable participant, UNENGO “MAMA-86”, which regularly contributes to analysis of practices and development of relevant recommendations at the European level, as well as promotes the ACN initiative domestically. In particular, “MAMA-86” has organized national and regional roundtables on the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear field and is committed to continue with development of this initiative and uniting interested stakeholders around it.

The goal of this-year roundtable was to establish a permanent dialogue of stakeholders to develop effective policies ensuring nuclear and radiation safety in Ukraine, taking into account the requirements for access to information and public participation in decision-making laid down by the Aarhus Convention.

The event brought together 85 representatives of various stakeholders — from governmental agencies and energy companies to NGO representatives and journalists, as well as international experts on public participation and nuclear security. Participants talked about measures to enhance nuclear and radiation safety in the EU and worldwide following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, discussed good practices in implementing the Aarhus and Espoo Conventions in the nuclear sphere, analyzed the current nuclear and radiation safety in Ukraine, as well as the state of the public access to information and participation in decision-making in this area. The discussion also touched upon the changes in the legislation and practices required to ensure the effective implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the domestic nuclear sphere.

The roundtable was opened by Anna Golubovska-Onisimova, Chair of the UNENGO “MAMA-86” Coordination Board, Olena Mykolaychuk, Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine and Franz Schneider, Deputy Head of Mission/Counsellor of the Swiss Embassy in Kyiv.

Olena Mykolaychuk read out the address from Iryna Sekh, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Environmental Policy, Natural Resources and Liquidation of the Chernobyl Accident Consequences, welcoming the event. Ms. Mykolaychuk noted that while this was not the first forum of such kind, this time the public, namely UNENGO “MAMA-86” took the lead. She also expressed her hope that this initiative will evolve because “the public has the right to know and participate in decision-making but everybody needs to understand how to use these rights to be effective and help to enhance nuclear, radiation and environmental safety.”

Anna Golubovska-Onisimova said in her welcome speech that the Fukushima accident has changed the world’s attitude towards nuclear and radiation safety, and the new safety model is based on the premises of the importance of information provision, especially about the nuclear-related risks, as well as of transparency, public engagement in decision-making and the use of international cooperation potential. She also spoke about the European context of the roundtable, namely the European initiative on the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear and the activities of the Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-Making which operates under the auspices of the Aarhus Convention. Ms. Golubovska-Onisimova also presented the roundtable’s agenda and her expectations of the forum’s outcome.

Addressing the audience, Franz Schneider referred to his country’s experience with the nuclear industry, touching upon the measures taken by Switzerland to ensure the nuclear safety, as well as the public attitude towards the nuclear industry development in the light of Chernobyl and Fukushima.

The roundtable’s first session “Nuclear and Radiation Safety in the World in the Aftermath of Fukushima” moderated by Olena Mykolaychuk, Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate, focused on the actions of the international community and individual countries after the Fukushima accident to improve the nuclear safety.

Hanna Horaschenkova, the Head of the International Cooperation and European Integration Department of the Nuclear Protection and International Cooperation Division of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, presented the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety and the ways of its implementation.

Stanislav Sholomitsky, the First Deputy Director of the State Scientific and Technical Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, spoke about the progress, results and recommendations of nuclear stress tests in EU countries.

Michel Chouha, the Representative of the Institute of Radiation and Nuclear Safety (ISRN, France) in Central and Eastern Europe, made a presentation on emergency preparedness in the nuclear industry of France and the steps taken to improve safety measures following the Fukushima accident.

The only representative of the public at this session, Tatiana Novikova, Nuclear energy expert of the Belarusian NGO “Ecohome”, who is also the executive secretary of the Public Environmental Expertize of the Belarusian NPP project, spoke about the process of environmental impact assessment of the NPP construction and the difficulties being faced by civil society in Belarus in this regard.

The second session “Ensuring Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Ukraine: Key Challenges” was moderated by Mykola Shteinberg, the Head of the Reactor Safety Consultative Board of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine.

Sergiy Bozhko, Director for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company (Energoatom), spoke on the general issues of nuclear safety, stress tests of domestic nuclear power plants, as well as the measures taken by the company to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants during the life cycle of nuclear energy production.

Professor Borys Pryster, UAAS Academician, Chief Researcher of the Institute of NPPs Safety Issues of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, presented a more critical view on the situation with nuclear safety in Ukraine and the world, in particular, as regards the state of preparedness of domestic NPPs and response systems to emergency situations.

Taras Tretyak, the Advisor to the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Espoo Convention Focal Point in Ukraine, spoke about the environmental impact assessment of construction and operation of new nuclear power plants in Ukraine, in particular in the framework of the Espoo Convention implementation.

The third session “European legislation and practice of the Aarhus Convention implementation in the context of nuclear safety” moderated by the Chair of UNENGO “MAMA-86” Coordination Council Anna Golubovska-Onisimova was the most “international” one: four European experts on public participation and information in nuclear industry shared the European experience of implementing the Aarhus Convention in this area.

Philip Kearney, Chairman of the Aarhus Convention Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-Making, spoke about the activities of this group, including the recommendations it develops on public participation in decision-making, as well as about the next session which will be devoted to public participation in the nuclear domain, where the outcome of the Kyiv roundtable would be also presented. He also described the main challenges in implementing the provisions of the Aarhus Convention, as identified by the Compliance Committee, but concluded his speech with examples of good practices in ensuring public participation in the nuclear field.

Gilles Herriard Dubreuil, Member of the ANCCLI Consultative Committee, Director of MUTADIS (France), told the audience about the European Roundtable of the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear (ACN). He also outlined the major developments during the four years of its implementation and the prospects for the initiative development.

Peter Mihok, Researcher at the Centre for Science and Research, Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrytsa (Slovak Republic), Cross-Border Issues Package Leader of the IPPA project, presented research findings regarding good practices in the implementation of the Espoo Convention in the nuclear domain.

Coralie Pineau, Communication Officer of the Local Information Commission in Gravelines (France), described the activities of the French network of local information commissions, which provide information to the public on the various aspects of the nuclear sector operation, including nuclear and radiation safety and emergency preparedness, as well as provide a platform for public engagement and oversight.

The fourth session “Towards Stakeholder Dialogue on Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Ukraine” was moderated by Oleksiy Tolkachov, the Head of Public Council of State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine. The panel focused on such issues as the Ukrainian legal framework for public participation in decision-making in the field of nuclear energy and the state of compliance with the Aarhus Convention as seen by civil society organizations.

Taras Tretyak, the Advisor to the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, who is also the focal point of the Espoo Convention and the assistant focal point of the Aarhus Convention in Ukraine, presented the legal foundation for public participation in decision-making related to nuclear safety, as well as some of his suggestions on how to improve the participation mechanisms.

Artur Denysenko, Energy Programs Director of the National Environmental Centre of Ukraine, spoke about (non-)participation of the public in decision-making regarding the life-extention of the old nuclear units in Ukraine.

Olga Kosharna, Director for Communications of the “Ukrainian Nuclear Forum” (UNF) Association, presented her view on the prospects of creating communication and interaction mechanisms for stakeholders, and also spoke about the UNF, its interaction with international counterparts and proposals for further action to enhance nuclear safety.

Throughout the day, roundtable participants posed questions to speakers and expressed their views on the issues raised for discussion.

The results of the National Roundtable were summed up by Zoriana Mishchuk, Executive Director of UNENGO “MAMA-86”. She recalled the main lessons of the European initiative on the Aarhus Convention in the Nuclear, namely:

- the importance of engaging various stakeholders (regulators, operators, government, NGOs, local authorities) into the dialogue,
- the pluralistic nature of the dialogue and search for common position around the idea of ​​nuclear safety instead of sticking to opposite views,

- openness and independence of the process (none of the parties controls the process),
- constant process, not one-time event,
- dialogue at various levels — local, national and international,
- benefiting from the exchange of information/experiences and best practices with other countries.

Regarding further activities, UNENGO “MAMA-86” believes that there is a need to start formalization of the national dialogue on information and public participation in the nuclear field, based on the above mentioned lessons and experience of other countries.

“MAMA-86” calls the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, partners from civil society organizations, interested local government officials, operators, relevant research institutions and other stakeholders to establish a Working Group on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear field with the following tasks:

- to analyze legislation and practices of EU Member States to ensure the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear field,
- to develop proposals (based on the above mentioned analysis) to amend the current Ukrainian legislation or draft new acts to increase transparency in the industry, ensure information provision and public participation in decision-making,
- to monitor the Aarhus Convention compliance in the nuclear domain of Ukraine,
- to conduct thematic dialogues according to priorities defined by the first national roundtable in 2010,
- to implement a local pilot project on ensuring information provision and interaction with the local population on nuclear and radiation safety near one of the nuclear sites of Ukraine,
- to ensure Ukraine's contribution to the further European process of the Aarhus Convention in the nuclear domain,
- to provide cooperation with the Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention and foreign partners.

UNENGO “MAMA-86” is ready to play the role of the secretariat of the Working Group, will continue to inform the Ukrainian public about the outcome and the follow-up of the European ACN process, is open to further ideas and proposals of interested organizations and persons and invites all stakeholders to join the national ACN initiative.

Presentations in English can be downloaded here:

• Michel Chouha
• Tatiana Novikova
• Philip Kearney
• Gilles Herriard Dubreuil [Presentation] [An overview of the European ACN process]
• Peter Mihok
• Coralie Pineau

For Ukrainian-language presentations and the audio recording of discussions, please see the Ukrainian version of the website — http://mama-86.org.ua/index.php/uk/ecologization/ecointegration-news/480-2013-02-26-16-10-25.html.