Role of commission locale d'information in france from the viewpoint of nuclear regulatory governance

Abstract

In France, there exist organizations called "Commission Locale d'Information" (CLI) in all the siting areas where nuclear facilities located. Previously, the CLI organizations were established voluntarily by some local governments or nuclear utilities. Since 2006, however, the Nuclear Transparency and Safety Act has obliged the establishment of CLI in all the siting areas in conjunction with reforming the nuclear regulatory agencies. This means that the concerned local governments are officially part of nuclear safety regulation. In this study, we investigated present conditions of the CLI organizations through some interviews in France and consider their roles from the standpoint of nuclear regulatory governance. As a result, we found that the CLI plays the following roles: (1) medium of communication among concerned parties (not only between nuclear utilities and local habitants but also between the national nuclear regulatory agency and various local governments) and (2) implementing various activities in accordance with each local condition through the participation of local assembly members. In addition, we clarified that CLFs activities are supported by related institutional infrastructures, such as cost burden between central and local governments, and some other systems of citizen participation in building or expanding nuclear facilities. © Atomic Energy Society of Japan.