Radioactive Waste Management - Public Attitudes Survey for Scotland: Summary Report

Radioactive Waste Management - Public Attitudes Survey for Scotland: Summary Report

Please find the Radioactive Waste Management - Public Attitudes Survey for Scotland

Background

The Scottish Government commissioned independent researchers, Diffley Partnership, to conduct a public attitudes survey for Scotland exploring attitudes towards radioactive waste management. The primary aim of this study was to design and deliver research that will help develop a deeper understanding of the views of the Scottish public on a range of radioactive waste management issues, including safety and trust in government and industry. This summary report sets out the key findings and conclusions from the public research.

Context

Radioactive waste can originate from a variety of sources including research, health or from nuclear sites. The process of radioactive waste management includes all activities, including nuclear site decommissioning activities, which relate to the handling, pre-treatment, treatment, conditioning, storage or disposal of radioactive waste (including discharges).

Scotland has existing radioactive waste that must be managed. More radioactive waste will necessarily arise, for example from nuclear sites as they are decommissioned and cleaned up. It is fundamental that radioactive waste is managed safely and in a way that avoids placing an undue burden on future generations.

Approach

An online survey was used to measure public attitudes to radioactive waste management. The survey was conducted between 8^th and 11^th January 2024 and received 2,160 responses. The questionnaire contained both closed questions (analysed quantitatively) and open response questions (analysed qualitatively).

Key Findings

Knowledge of Radioactive Waste Management

• Self-reported levels of knowledge of radioactive waste management among respondents were limited. The vast majority (89%) of respondents reported that they were either not very well informed or not at all informed about radioactive waste management in Scotland.
• There was a mixed appetite for more information, with just over half of respondents (55%) indicating they would like to know more about radioactive waste management.
• Respondents placed the most trust in scientists/academics to provide information on radioactive waste management over other bodies and institutions such as the nuclear industry, the Scottish Government and the media.
• The majority of respondents believed that the regulators of the Scottish Nuclear Industry (82%), the Scottish Nuclear Industry itself (81%) and the Scottish Government (79%) should do more to educate the public about radioactive waste management.

Attitudes towards Radioactive Waste Management

• Most respondents agreed that public education is important in the management of radioactive waste (70%).
• Overall, there was clear recognition that it is vital for Scotland to have a robust strategy for radioactive waste management (84%). This was linked with concerns about the impact of radioactive waste management on the environment (72%), future generations (68%) and health (55%).

Priorities in Radioactive Waste Management

• The protection of human health was the biggest priority in radioactive waste management among the respondents, followed closely by the protection of the environment and the security of radioactive waste management facilities.
• Safe containment of radioactive waste (64%) and the protection of the environment (67%) were the highest perceived benefits in the creation of new facilities for managing radioactive waste.
• Potential for radioactive leaks (72%) was one of the main concerns about the development of new facilities, along with the possible environmental effects (73%) and health impacts (71%).

Decision-Making in Radioactive Waste Management

• Most respondents felt that they have no influence over decision making processes relating to radioactive waste management, either locally (75%) or nationally (67%).
• Respondents who stated that they have no influence over decision making felt this way because they felt decisions are made without talking to people (61%), that they have no opportunity to have an influence (48%) and they don’t know how to influence decision making (39%).
• There was a mixed appetite for wanting to be involved in decision making with just under a half of respondents (47%) wanting to be involved.

Conclusions

This research provides new insights into the perceptions and views towards radioactive waste management in Scotland. Current and reliable insights from the Scottish public are crucial to ensure policymakers are well-informed, and this is the first research of its kind exploring radioactive waste management in Scotland.

A clear finding from this study is that the majority of respondents don’t feel informed about radioactive waste management. There is a mixed appetite for more information, with around half of all respondents interested in learning more about radioactive waste management.

Despite this, almost all respondents have never attempted to become informed in the past. If they were to source information themselves, most people would go to academia, internet, Scottish Government and the regulators of the industry. The results suggest respondents are more likely to trust academics more than information sourced from the internet, the Scottish Government or the regulators of the nuclear industry.

The majority of respondents were also of the view that the regulators of the industry, the nuclear industry and the Scottish Government should be doing more to inform the public on radioactive waste management.

Given the broad lack of knowledge of the radioactive waste management process and related policies it is somewhat unsurprising that respondents to the survey didn’t know about the best ways to manage radioactive waste.

However, there is broad agreement that there needs to be a robust strategy to manage radioactive waste with the main concerns for environmental, intergenerational and health impacts.

Indeed, protection of human health, the environment and the security of facilities are the top priorities in radioactive waste management. Interestingly, respondents would rather minimise the burden on future generations than keep more options open to them.

In terms of decision-making, people don’t feel they have much influence in general, however they believe they have more impact at a national level rather than in their local communities.

There were a range of reasons for feeling this way, however the most common included feeling like decisions were made without talking to people, people aren’t given the opportunity to input and people don’t know how to input.

There was a mixed appetite for wanting to be involved in decision making with around a half of respondents wanting to be involved in decision making.

Interestingly, if a new development were to be proposed the majority of respondents would prefer residents of the local community and independent experts to be involved in the decision-making process.

This report was prepared for the Scottish Government by Diffley Partnership. The research was conducted by the following members of staff:

Mark Diffley, Founder and Director

Scott Edgar, Senior Research Manager

Mhairi McFarlane, Senior Researcher

Haley Barnes, Researcher

Megan Dickson, Researcher

The content of this report does not reflect the official opinion of the Scottish Government. Responsibility for the information and views expressed therein lies entirely with the authors.