The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) acts as a centre for informed exchange of knowledge and experience regarding stakeholder interaction and public participation in radioactive waste management. It promotes an open discussion among members and stakeholders, across institutional boundaries, and between technical and non-technical actors, in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. As such, the FSC is, first and foremost, a learning organisation. FSC members seek to improve their own practice and institutions by uncovering practical knowledge, validating it with those most concerned and with academic feedback, consolidating knowledge and transferring lessons learnt.
Since its foundation in 2000, the FSC has used and developed a set of terminology and concepts. Fostering a Durable Relationship between a Waste Management Facility and its Host Community: Adding Value through Design and Process (NEA, 2007a) included a five-page glossary of terms that appeared central to understanding the innovative concepts put forward in that major report. Then, at the 11th Regular Meeting of the FSC in 2010, it was determined that a new, extensive review of concepts and definitions would be useful in order to inform new FSC members or to elaborate future texts on decision making in radioactive waste management.
The annotated glossary was prepared on the basis of a review of the full range of FSC publications across the past decade, and discussions with the NEA Secretariat and the FSC Bureau.
The glossary was reviewed at the FSC-12 meeting (2011), where the FSC re-examined its key concepts, reaffirming or refining past understanding. In each entry, the key characteristics of the concept are explained and its symbolic dimension described. In some cases, references to other literature are provided. In 2018, the FSC membership decided to update the Glossary and include a new entry on added value. The concept of added value was first discussed in the report Fostering a Durable Relationship between a Waste Management Facility and its Host Community: Adding Value through Design and Process (NEA, 2015).
It was recognised that although the concept has many facets and continues to evolve, a shared understanding of this concept was necessary. It is to be expected that within the coming years and through continuing dialogue, the understanding of certain concepts will evolve further and other terms will come to the fore. The FSC will continue to discuss and update its glossary to maintain it as a living document.
