Background

The future of nuclear in Europe depends to a great extent on public and political acceptance. Nuclear energy is a controversial issue in public opinion. Most environmentalists oppose the use of nuclear power on safety and waste management grounds. The perception of nuclear is not accurate, since the term nuclear conveys fears. It is essential to communicate the accurate and unbiased information concerning specific projects and nuclear in general in order to enhance the nuclear industry’s credibility, and improve public acceptance.

The Fukushima accident has had an impact on public opinion. However though it is very difficult to assess this impact in the long-term, we can already say that the results of opinion polls carried out throughout the European Union after the event show that it is very country specific. In some countries like Germany and Switzerland opposition to nuclear has risen sharply, while in other where new build plans are under way, like the United Kingdom or France, a majority of the population still backs the use of nuclear power.

Nuclear Information Committee Europe (NICE)

The Nuclear Information Committee Europe (NICE) wants to trigger discussion, and at the same time facilitate a platform for dialogue and an open house for reflection on the issues. It is a joint initiative of the European Nuclear Society (ENS) and the European Atomic Forum (FORATOM).

• The Nuclear Information Committee Europe (NICE) increases the effectiveness of nuclear communication activities in Europe.
• NICE proactively identifies current and future communication issues of common interest for the nuclear sector of the industry.
• NICE acts as a vehicle for initiation, evaluation and co-ordination of communication issues, so the same issues and statement appear and are used both on national and European level, the latter also in case of the European Institutions.
• The governing bodies of ENS and FORATOM are the first to be informed of the recommendations and actions by NICE. These bodies have the possibility to influence on the activities of NICE and give their recommendations as well.

As a general rule, the Committee is comprised of one person per country with one substitute. Members are nominated to the Committee by the FORATOM and ENS constituencies, with agreement on the nominee and his/her substitute to be reached at the national level.
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Other observers include one representative from international organisations such as: ENS Young Generation, NucNet, World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), World Nuclear Association (WNA), World Nuclear Transport Institute (WNTI) and Women in Nuclear (WIN).

Latest Developments

A European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) aimed at providing advice to European policy makers, on nuclear energy-related issues was launched in November 2007. It was agreed to establish three working groups that are in charge of analysing three main issues: the opportunities of nuclear, the risks of nuclear and information and transparency. The working group on information and transparency’s mandate is to examine better ways to inform the public, to analyse the most effective approaches to build up trust and to exchange best practices at EU level.

PIME, the conference on Public Information Materials Exchange, is the annual gathering point for professional nuclear communicators all around the world. It is a unique international conference that has grown in value and stature year-on-year. PIME 2011 took place in Brussels from 13 to 16 February 2011. The next PIME conference will be held in Warsaw (Poland) from 12 to 15 February 2012.

 For further information:

• FORATOM Brochure on public opinion, What people really think about nuclear
• Website section on opinion polls and Eurobarometers