IEEJ：December 2015, All Rights Reserved.

Symposium on Sustainable Power Supply Mix in the Future
Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square, Bangkok, Thailand

Public Acceptability on Nuclear and Coal Power inEuropean Countries

Tomoko (TOM) Murakami
Manager, Nuclear Energy GroupThe Institute of Energy Economics, Japan
20 November 2015

allmänhetens acceptans för kärnkraft och kolkraft i europeiska länder1

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Visit & meetings in European countries : Itinerary• Governmental Offices• Electric Utilities• Plant Vendors• Industry Associations• Financing Bodies• Researchers/Journalists
October 27-28
DECC
CBI
WNA
SJR
TEPCO
October 23/26
SFEN
Areva/ATMEA
JAEA
IEA
allmänhetens acceptans för kärnkraft och kolkraft i europeiska länder

October 19
Vattenfall
Platts

October 20-21
DAtF
KfW
October 22
Swissnuclear/Alpiq2

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Energy and nuclear/coal policy in the countries I visitedCountry
SwedenGermany

Energy policy

Coal Development

Sustainability/Carbon neutral

Suspending /decreasing(43% -> ?)Little(2% -> ?)Zero Emission/
Anti-nuclear

Phasing out(16% -> 0%@2022)

None (without CCS)
(45% -> ?)Transient(38% -> 0%@?)None (without CCS)
( - -> ?)Security / Sufficiency

Decreasing(78% -> 50%)

Little(2% -> ?)Security / Low carbon
economyNew builds forreplacement(19% -> ?)None (without CCS)
(30% -> ?)Switzerland Ecology/
Environment
compatibility
FranceUK

Nuclear Development

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Questions• What is the major public concern on nuclear / coal power plants?
• Safety / environmental issues?
• Costs?
• What else?
• If the concern is cleared, then the plan will go well?

• What is the major business risk proceeding with the construction andoperation of nuclear / coal power plants?
• Uncertainty in the safety / environmental assessment?
• Unplanned delay in the construction works?
• Resistance of the local municipalities?
• Obtaining finance?

• What kind of issues would you discuss with the government or with thelicensee when a new construction application of a coal power plant –with CCS or without CCS – is submitted from a licensee?
• Is there any regular communication or dialogue between operators andlocal communities –such as the Commission Locale d'Information (CLI) inFrance- with regard to new nuclear / coal licensing?
If any, how does it work?
allmänhetens acceptans för kärnkraft och kolkraft i europeiska länder4

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Sweden: Acceptability, profitability, capability• Crucial conditions for a power portfolio in the future• Acceptability including safety• Profitability• Capability including technological readiness• Liberalization in Nordic area has lead the countries to the “unified”
marketRegarding nuclear…
• Current government policy suspends the new construction projectand phasing nuclear out• 17% increase in the nuclear tax -> heavy burden to the utilities• Transparency is the key issue of information disclosure
Public people accepts nuclear due to its low generation cost
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Germany: developed, matured, and again challenging• Had developed nuclear since 1960s• Strong and firm messages /commitments by the government in the 1st step
• Mutual and close communications between local governments and residents asthe 2nd step
• Information disclosure by the operator as the 3rd step

• Differences between northern and southern area
• Northern area: many coal mines / protective policy toward the coal industry-> coal power has been the base of electricity and life
• Southern area: less coal resources -> necessity of nuclear-> many nuclear units as a base load• Political hurdle / business risk of power plant projects• Assessment and licensing delay -> cost overrun• Public resistance• Compatibility with EU Industrial Emission Directive 2010
• Extremely low electricity market price• Very challenging targets in “Energiewende”
Exporting volatile generation and low prices?
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Switzerland: “merit order” pushes coal and gas out of the market• Renewables with zero marginal costs, such as wind and solar, pushes coal andgas out of the competitive market

Source: Mirco Borgdorf, Alpiq, October 2015

Regarding nuclear…
• Public generally accepts nuclear and put reliance on nuclear safety• High educated people are more pro-nuclear
Real merits (low electricity tariff and emissions) should be most effective
to the public acceptability of nuclear
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France: Open and transparent communication methods working• Had developed and commercialized nuclear since 1950s• In early stage, people were not “educated” enough about risks of atomic energy andmerely believed that nuclear energy can solve every problem! -> Much more pronuclear before 1980
• Since 1980s, after the Chernobyl accident in the former USSR, public lost reliance on
the officials and on the operators-> “la commission locale d'information (CLI)”, an independent communication body has
been established• The law “energy transition” puts the operators obligations to disclose information to
local residents through CLIs
•Article 123 En savoir plus sur cet article...
•I.-L'article L. 125-17 du code de l'environnement est complété par deux alinéas ainsi rédigés :Elle organise, au moins une fois par an, une réunion publique ouverte à tous.
Elle peut se saisir de tout sujet entrant dans les compétences mentionnées au deuxième alinéa.
II.-L'article L. 125-20 du même code est complété par un III ainsi rédigé :III.-Si le site est localisé dans un département frontalier, la composition de la commission mentionnée au I est
complétée afin d'inclure des membres issus d'Etats étrangers.

Source: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/

Today, all kinds of information can be accessed via the web –providing accurate and timely information when necessary is crucial.
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UK: Open and transparent dialogue generally penetrated
Sciencewise projects: The UK’s national centre for public dialogue in policy
making involving science and technology issues
Ex. Public dialogue in the Generic Design Assessment of new reactor designs now
proceeding in the UK by ONR
Question 5: Which, if any of the following statements most closely describes your own
opinion about nuclear power in Britain today?

Majority

Cost effectiveness should be reviewed
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Implications: some opinions from experts• Stakeholder dialogue is structured conversations with interested parties
including public, industry and government.
• Public dialogue broadly reflects of public views through recruitment , not a mere
talk shop.
• Communication in nuclear projects is really an important issue. Developedcountries have set up different ways to cope with this issue depending on theircultural and structural ways of doing things.
Will such public communication bodies be effective?
• Public communication done by institutional bodies may not work and afford
poor results while costing a lot of money. Even in USA or UK it can be argue thatsuch process is extending significantly the construction phase of nuclear projectand putting a lot of pressure on the operators during operation phase.
• In developing countries it must be say that public communication is viewed ascosmetic tool necessary and sometimes required by the financial community tojustify the early investment. But fundamentally most of the citizens of suchcountries do not participate and are not using the information for their own
benefit.
-> So in summary, these public communication bodies are failing.
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Implications: to deepen the public acceptability…
• Prompt and correct information sharing is the top priority• Independent communicating organization with professional
communication officer would be also important• Providing benefits being brought by nuclear energy would be
effective to increase acceptability of nuclear than arguing risks
Meanwhile,• Scientifically correct information are sometimes no use to makehighly “philosophical” people accept nuclear/coal, since we havelearned the fact that less educated people in early 1950s had
welcomed nuclear much more than today!
To be concluded;• The real importance is for the nuclear industry to be accepted by
the overall community – not by B to C approach but by B to B.
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Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit
Thank you for your attention
Merci pour votre attention
Tack för er uppmärksamhet
Dankie vir jou aandag

Photo: Irouzaki Wind Farm (Minami Izu City, Shizuoka Pref. Japan)
Photo: Chartres, France on 25 October 2015

allmänhetens acceptans för kärnkraft och kolkraft i europeiska länder

Contact : report@tky.ieej.or.jp 12