Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Nuclear waste management system is a typical case showing the politics of sustainability. Politics of sustainability includes the struggle and negotiations among various social actors around what is the best way to secure sustainable management of nuclear waste. Who to participate in the policy making process regarding such risk management is the key issue. This paper analyzes the evolution of high-level nuclear waste management system in South Korea from the perspective of sustainability politics. Korea is currently confronted with very difficult task of high-level nuclear waste management coming from 25 nuclear power plants. Korean government’s nuclear waste management paradigm can be characterized as technocratic: it has pursued elitist approach so far relying exclusively on experts and technical bureaucrats. No significant participation of civil society has been allowed until recently. However, Korea’s anti-nuclear and environment movement organizations have been expanding its influence after Fukushima nuclear disaster and German government’s declaration of nuclear phase-out policy, strongly demanding public dialogue program on nuclear waste issues as well as phasing-out existing reactors. Confronted with these challenges Korean government officially announced recently that they are going to launch “Public Dialogue and Participation Program” regarding high-level nuclear waste management this year as a way of securing sustainable risk governance. Can this be understood as an paradigm change from technocratic to participatory risk governance with regard to nuclear waste management policy? And, is that dialogue program going to end the bitter social conflicts so far and help promote sustainable management of high-level nuclear waste?