The UK nuclear industry recognised the benefits of stakeholder engagement many years prior to this and established suitable methods of communication. One example is the establishment of a Local Liaison Committee, having its own terms of reference and principles for stakeholder engagement. Much of the UK experience in stakeholder engagement in the nuclear industry was incorporated within the IRPA Guiding Principles document. Where effective stakeholder engagement is already long established in the UK, there appears to be a reluctance to change what is working well and move to adopting the IRPA Guiding Principles.

The IRPA Guiding Principles would be of most benefit in the UK to Radiation Protection Professionals with no experience in stakeholder engagement. Non-nuclear sites typically do not have a history (or a regulatory requirement) to engage in stakeholder dialogue and hence many are of the opinion that this document would not be of benefit – how wrong they are. An immediate benefit in adopting the IRPA principles for stakeholder engagement could readily be identified for "contentious" radioactive facilities, such as a landfill site or an incinerator, or perhaps an industrial site with domestic dwellings in close proximity, where neighbours express an interest in what is in their neighbourhood. Historically there has been minimal public interest in most non-nuclear licensed sites.

With no statutory requirement for the Environment Agencies to involve the public in the decision making process on the issue and revision of authorisations/permissions associated with radioactive materials on the non-nuclear site, the Radiation Protection Professionals have not been called upon in the past to acquire skills in stakeholder engagement. However circumstances are changing and there is an increasing public awareness and interest in radiation in their environment. The Environment Agencies are committed to openness and transparency and there is greater public awareness of their rights, including under the Freedom of Information Act.

Together these factors are making it increasingly likely that in the future, Radiation Protection Professionals working in non-nuclear facilities such as hospitals, universities, research or industrial premises will be required to effectively communicate and engage with external stakeholders in respect of their activities. A novice to stakeholder engagement who attempts the task without structured guidance is likely to soon face difficulties, which could result in loss of confidence and mistrust by the stakeholders. Adoption of the IRPA Guiding Principles along with early communication with all relevant stakeholders in a professional way is much more likely to lead to a successful outcome.

The IRPA Guiding Principles for Radiation Protection Professionals on Stakeholder Engagement are available to download from the IRPA web site under Reports and Documents.

In the June 2010 SRP newsletter, there was an article written by John Croft, Roger Coates and Tony Bandle, identifying that experience in implementing the IRPA Guiding Principles on Stakeholder Engagement will be a discussion topic at the IRPA 13 Congress in Glasgow in 2012. If you or your organisation (and this applies equally to nuclear and non-nuclear sites) has experience of using the IRPA Guiding Principles on Stakeholder Engagement, SRP would be delighted to hear all about it. If you work in the nuclear sector and were already experienced in long-standing arrangements for stakeholder dialogue, have you found these guidelines of use and have you changed the way you engage with stakeholders as a result of this document?

Please will you take the time to submit a one page summary of your experience? If there is any aspect of your experiences that you are particularly proud of, or if there were specific lessons learned, SRP would be delighted to hear about them. The objective in collating the submitted responses is to develop a snapshot of how well we are doing in the UK in implementing the IRPA Guiding Principles on Stakeholder Engagement – to do this, we need your help!

Please submit details of your experiences in the first instance to Cathy Griffiths at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  by 31 January 2011.

24 November 2010