Taming uncertainty: towards a new governance approach for nuclear waste management in Belgium

We focus on the new governance practices in Belgian nuclear waste management (NWM) from its 'participatory turn' in the late 1990s. Rather than praising (or rejecting) participation versus expert analysis, we make use of a theoretical and analytical framework in which the relevant dynamics...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Technology analysis & strategic management 2015-09, Vol.27 (8), p.986-998
Main Authors: Parotte, Céline, Delvenne, Pierre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Appraisals
Belgium
Decision making
Droit, criminologie & sciences politiques
Dynamic tests
Engineering, computing & technology
Ingénierie, informatique & technologie
Law, criminology & political science
Managers
Mathematical analysis
nuclear waste management
opening up/closing down
participatory/expert analysis
Radioactive waste disposal
Radioactive wastes
Strategic management
Studies
Technological change
Uncertainty
Waste management
Waste management industry
Wastes
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Summary:We focus on the new governance practices in Belgian nuclear waste management (NWM) from its 'participatory turn' in the late 1990s. Rather than praising (or rejecting) participation versus expert analysis, we make use of a theoretical and analytical framework in which the relevant dynamics for the analysis are 'opening up' and 'closing down' technological appraisals and commitments. Even though NWM agencies often plead for an integrative approach between expert analysis and stakeholder participation, in practice both exercises are often kept separate. We address this separation and its consequences and we find that societal concerns remain subsumed in the technical options that have long been favoured by the Belgian agency. This article encourages scholars, waste managers, and decision-makers to scrutinise the moments and situations in which opening up would be desirable, and when, by contrast, it would be better to close down options in NWM.
ISSN:0953-7325
1465-3990
DOI:10.1080/09537325.2015.1044429