NEA Mandates and Structures

Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC)

Chair(s):	Sigrid EECKHOUT, Belgium Nuria PRIETO SERRANO, Spain	Secretaries:	Hannah ROMSES (hannah.romses@oecd-nea.org) Tamara YANKOVICH (tamara.yankovich@oecd-nea.org)
Vice-Chair(s):	Maude PAGE, Canada Annabelle QUENET, France Daniel MARTA, Italy Kenichi KAKU, Japan Daniela DIACONU, Romania Pascale KÜNZI, Switzerland David BRAZIER, United Kingdom Christopher MARKLEY, United States
Member(s):	All NEA member countries^*
	Russia (Suspended*)
	^*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council.
EU participation:	The European Union (EU) takes part in the work of the NEA, in accordance with the NEA Statute and the Supplementary Protocol to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Observer(s)(International Organisation):	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) By agreement
Date of creation:	01 August 2000
End of mandate:	31 December 2028

Mandate (Document reference):

Mandate of the RWMC Working Party - Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) [NEA/RWM/FSC(2000)1/REV1]
Summary record of the 33^rd Session of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee held in March 2000 [NEA/RWM(2000)2]
Forum on Stakeholder Confidence Mandate – Phase 2 [NEA/RWM(2003)4/REV2]
Mandate of the RWMC Working Party “Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC)” [NEA/RWM(2005)13/REV3]
Mandates of the RWMC Regulator’s Forum and the RWMC working Parties FSC, IGSC and WPDD [NEA/RWM(2011)1]
Mandates of the RWMC Regulator’s Forum and the RWMC working Parties FSC, IGSC and WPDD [NEA/RWM(2013)2/PROV]
Mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) Mandate Extension: April 2016-December 2019 [NEA/RWM/FSC(2016)3]
Mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) 2020-2022 [NEA/RWM/FSC/M(2020)2/FINAL]
Mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) 2023-2025 [NEA/RWM/FSC/M(2022)1]
Mandate of the Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) 2025-2028 [NEA/RWM/FSC/M(2025)1]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document NEA/RWM/FSC/M(2025)1

Background

Due to changes in society’s decision-making environment and heightened public sensitivity to all matters connected with environmental protection, nuclear power, radioactivity and especially radioactive waste, any decision regarding whether, when and how to implement waste management solutions and how to complete the decommissioning and legacy management processes will typically require thorough public involvement of relevant stakeholders. Stakeholder involvement is becoming increasingly important as countries continue or start decommissioning projects and begin to develop their strategic choices for long-term radioactive waste management, and/or move towards siting and developing final repositories. Since the decision-making process and avenues for stakeholder involvement differ from country to country, it is important to identify similarities and differences, understand the key concerns of various stakeholders, and develop means to interact effectively with the different audiences.

In 2023, the NEA established the High-level Group on Stakeholder Engagement, Trust, Transparency and Social Sciences (HLG-SET) to engage at the senior policy-level to cultivate deeper understanding of the relations between the nuclear sector and society, and to develop appropriate mechanisms to foster communication, public engagement and trust building between the public and the nuclear sector. The outputs of the group will ultimately lead to the development of policy-level recommendations to help countries advance public engagement and trust building. The FSC will continue to engage with the HLG-SET in domains of mutual relevance.

Scope

The Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) supports the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) and the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM) by:

facilitating the interchange of experiences and opinions among stakeholders of the participating organisations; and
reviewing the experience of stakeholder involvement programmes worldwide.

Objectives

The FSC will:

as directed by the RWMC and CDLM - define, oversee and carry out work programme activities in the strategic area of public engagement, and stakeholder confidence related to radioactive waste management, decommissioning and legacy management;
advise the RWMC and CDLM on major and emerging issues in the area of public understanding and stakeholder confidence related to radioactive waste management, decommissioning and legacy management;
analyse, document and provide recommendations on current and future processes for embedding waste management programmes into a socio-political decision-making context;
examine and further develop the link between decommissioning, legacy management, decision-making and public confidence and acceptance in close co-operation with the CDLM;
share FSC members’ experiences, information and current practices to help advance their skills in building and maintaining confidence among stakeholders in radioactive waste management projects, and decommissioning and legacy management programmes;
provide a diverse and supportive setting for FSC members, stakeholders and the academic community to engage in dialogue to find a long-term solution for radioactive waste management, decommissioning and legacy management and enhance mutual learning; and
provide input to the national and international processes and dialogue, showing how an early involvement of a wide range of stakeholders can help in designing and implementing stronger decision-making processes.

Working methods

The FSC will:

(i) establish a highly task-oriented working programme to identify resources and schedules for the issues at hand;

(ii) create expert groups and/or task groups as appropriate;

(iii) organise national workshops in member countries with the participation of local stakeholders as appropriate; and

(iv) review the working programme and the effectiveness of the FSC.

The FSC will have at least one yearly plenary meeting. The plenary meeting will be devoted to the following:

Exchange of information on recent development in the member countries;
In-depth discussions of current developments and topical issues, where specialists from outside the FSC can also be invited;
The discussion and co-ordination of the programme of work; and
The identification of main lessons to be reported to the RWMC and CDLM, including organising topical sessions at the Committees’ plenary meetings.

Membership

The FSC is a discipline-oriented working group with members ranging from government policy and regulatory officials to R&D specialists, implementers, regulators and industry representatives. The FSC is composed of representatives of national organisations with responsibility, overview and experience in the field of building stakeholder confidence.

Interactions

In co-operation with other relevant organisations (e.g. IEA and IAEA), the FSC will examine stakeholder involvement programmes worldwide and develop best practices in the field of radioactive waste management. The FSC will also collaborate on specific topics with other NEA working groups/parties, such as the RWMC, CDLM and other NEA bodies dealing with societal issues, in particular with the HLG-SET in the area of public understanding and stakeholder confidence related to radioactive waste management and, decommissioning and legacy management, and specifically, to share best practices and lessons learned to help inform high-level recommendations.

Deliverables

The FSC will produce reports and studies on issues such as the role of regions in radioactive waste management, intergenerational connections in radioactive waste management, added value in nuclear waste management facilities and processes, and all other aspects that concern stakeholder engagement in radioactive waste management, decommissioning and legacy management.