First of its kind: Eurajoki as a nuclear community and site for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel

Abstract

The dissertation examines Eurajoki as a nuclear community pioneering in nuclear waste management. Eurajoki in Finland is the first municipality in the world where the siting of a final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) was concluded with the appropriate public and community acceptance. The subsequent granting of the construction licence has been characterized as "a milestone of global importance". The interest in Eurajoki, stems from it being 'the first of its kind'. That said, Eurajoki is also a prime example of the tendency of nuclear communities to be more amenable to final disposal. While identifying a successful method for securing willing host communities has been a long-term mission of the international nuclear waste management community, understanding the dynamics of public and local acceptance also pose a challenge from the viewpoint of governance and social sciences. The aim of the study is three-fold: 1) To form a picture of Eurajoki as a nuclear community and to examine the rationality of community acceptance in light of a resident survey. This is done by briefly recounting how Eurajoki became a nuclear community and the site for final disposal and exploring residents' opinions and their relation to certain theories. 2) To scrutinise the workings of the competing nuclear oasis and industry awareness frames by analysing how nuclear communities are interpreted and by applying the competing viewpoints to the results of the survey. 3) To draw conclusions on the viability of the frames based on the findings and reflect on the way forward given the evidence gathered in the course of the study. The frames examined differ widely from each other. Where the nuclear oasis frame leans heavily on patterns of power related to economic and employment considerations, the industry awareness frame focuses heavily on the socio-cultural and symbolic dimensions of siting. The results indicate that both concentrating strictly on economic necessities and dependency or, on other hand, on cultural integration and cultural capacity is clear-ly insufficient and that inhabitants' acceptance culminates in more encompassing considerations related to community well-being. Both the relationship between im-plementer and community and the perceived contribution of the project to the well-being of the community are highlighted.