This report was prepared by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) Working Group on Public Communication of Nuclear Regulatory Organisations (WGPC). The document – Nuclear Regulatory Organisation and Communication Strategies – discusses the importance for NROs to define a communications strategy in order to communicate with various stakeholders, including the public, and for developing a strategy that will enable them to manage expectations, ensure consistent messaging, improve productivity and measure outcomes. The CNRA approved the task at its December 2013 meeting.
In early 2014, a survey of 35 questions dealing with five broad areas of communication strategy and planning was sent to all members of the WGPC. 16 responses from Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Hungary, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United States of America demonstrated that the development of communication strategies among NROs varies from one organisation to the next, and that there also exists a variance in NRO communications maturity levels.
The purpose of this document is to provide information and suggestions to all NROs, regardless of level of communications maturity, by describing various communication concepts and approaches, and listing any applicable case studies. The document discusses six different topics: strategic planning, targeted audiences and stakeholders, public opinion polling, resources and organisation, key messages and dealing with the media.
A summary of the responses to the survey can be found in the “What we heard” report in Appendix 1.