Public Participation in the Siting of Nuclear Waste Facilities: International Lessons and the Korean Experience

For decades, policymakers in Korea have struggled against public opposition to the siting of facilities to store and manage nuclear waste. Partial victory was eventually secured with the siting of a facility to store and manage low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste that local residents approved in 2005 and formally opened in 2015. However, left unresolved has been the issue of managing high-level nuclear waste. In the interim, following the Fukushima disaster of 2011, the Korean nuclear industry was rocked by a series of scandals involving corruption and forged safety certificates that eviscerated public trust in the nuclear industry, complicating efforts to resolve the spent fuel issue. With temporary storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel rapidly reaching maximum capacity, the government faces the unavoidable challenge of fostering the stakeholder confidence that will be indispensable for siting and building longer-term facilities to manage spent fuel. By analyzing international experiences and best practices regarding public participation, as well as discussing Korea’s own experience, the paper offers practical recommendations for accomplishing this urgent, long-term task.