Transnational dialog on decommissioning nuclear power plants

Civil society organizations from the US and Russia are co-hosting a conference to explore the environmental hazards and opportunities of decommissioning nuclear power plants.

Participants will discuss ways to improve safety during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants through greater transparency and effective interaction of stakeholders based on democratic principles that ensure everyone’s right to a clean and safe environment.

New England and Northwest Russia have a lot in common. Both regions host commercial nuclear power plants. While some are planning to extend their operational life, others have begun decommissioning or are already partially decommissioned. This process should ensure the transfer of these facilities to a state that will be environmentally safe for present and future generations.

In both countries, this process is controlled by nuclear power plant operators and regulatory authorities. However, the process is insufficiently transparent, and lacks legal procedures for the effective and informed participation of residents and regional legislators.

Our transnational dialogue is aimed at overcoming geopolitical enmity and is designed to demonstrate the benefits of civil cooperation in order to improve the environmental safety outcomes of nuclear decommissioning, something that is important not only for our own countries but for the planet we all share.

Using New England and the North-West of Russia as a model, our speakers will address how citizens and regional legislators can make the decommissioning process safer, making environmental well-being and public safety a priority. We will also examine the opportunity provided by an “autopsy” of decommissioned reactors in the context of reactors seeking lifetime extensions.