A team of leaders from EM headquarters and cleanup sites traveled to London, United Kingdom, to participate in a workshop with U.K. and Canadian government representatives and impacted stakeholders from July 11-14.
Office of Environmental Management
July 18, 2023
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LONDON – A team of leaders from EM headquarters and cleanup sites traveled to London, United Kingdom, to participate in a workshop with U.K. and Canadian government representatives and impacted stakeholders from July 11-14. The workshop focused on stakeholder engagement, which is critical to the cleanup of nuclear legacy sites.
“The completion of our milestones is not possible without strong stakeholder engagement throughout the cleanup process,” said Kristen Ellis, EM director of regulatory, intergovernmental and stakeholder engagement. “Our success in completing the technical aspects of a cleanup is directly related to engagement with our partners, elected officials and communities.”
Pictured from left are John McNamara, head of stakeholder relations for the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; Kristen Ellis, EM director of regulatory, intergovernmental and stakeholder engagement; and Jason Cameron, vice-president, communications and public affairs for Canada’s Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.
The trilateral group, which includes EM, the U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Canada’s Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), collaborates on the successful decommissioning and remediation of legacy nuclear sites and the safe management of their radioactive waste to ensure the protection of present and future generations and the environment in their respective countries.
“Engagement around how we deliver our decommissioning mission is vital and it’s been hugely valuable to host our international colleagues from U.S. and Canada as part of our trilateral agreement to discuss how we involve our stakeholders in our work,” said John McNamara, NDA head of stakeholder engagement. “It’s been an opportunity to share successes and utilize our collective knowledge and expertise to look at how we can overcome some common challenges. It’s also enabled all of us to get new ideas and inspiration so we can continue to improve how we engage and keep that conversation going.”
The workshop featured presentations, roundtables, case studies and opportunities for government agencies, local government, and interest groups to share successes and challenges related to stakeholder engagement.
NDA CEO David Peattie engaged with the participants in advance of their visit to NDA’s Sellafield site located on the coast of Cumbria, England. About 75 years ago, the Sellafield site helped create the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent and was home to the U.K.’s first commercial nuclear power station. The site houses around 85% of all the U.K.’s nuclear waste, on an area of less than 2 square miles. Today, NDA’s primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage, and nuclear decommissioning.
As part of the ongoing trilateral collaboration, EM, NDA and AECL meet quarterly to discuss ongoing activities and identify potential areas of cooperation. Current areas of collaboration include in-situ decommissioning and disposal; stakeholder engagement; sustainability; workforce planning and project peer reviews; and aging infrastructure management. During standing committee meetings, subject-matter experts and managers from EM, NDA and AECL provide brief updates on these topics and discuss emerging areas for future collaboration.
“I know I will be going back to our cleanup program with a fresh perspective on stakeholder engagement,” said Ellis. “The dialogue at the workshop generated new ideas for ensuring we are reaching all our audiences. We want the public to not just be informed but involved in our cleanup mission, so our success is their success, too.”
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