Brussels, 17/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - An information and communication network on energy research will soon be launched to promote dialogue on energy research amongst the general population. It will consist of agencies and government ministries, industries, non governmental organisations and academics. This announcement was made at a conference aiming to promote nuclear research, notably radio active waste management and nuclear fusion via the ITER programme (construction of an experimental nuclear fusion reactor), organised by the European Atomic Forum.
Raising awareness among EU citizens on energy related issues is a priority of Research Commissioner, Philippe Busquin, especially since the results of a Eurobarometer survey, presented last March, which illustrated a lack of information on behalf of citizens on the subject. This survey also stressed the sceptical, indeed negative positions of citizens and their worries about the safety of nuclear plants and the production of nuclear waste (EUROPE 11 March p 13). According to Alain Bugat of the CEA, Commissariat français à l'énergie atomique (CEA), "when the nuclear industry was born, the management of waste corresponded to citizens' expectations. Now, expectations of citizens have developed regarding all types of waste…We are working to global responses", such as the storage of irradiated fuels and selection (which would allow for "noble" energy to be recovered from the waste), assured Mr Bugat, adding that "the research in this field will be of long duration". Dr Peter Haug, General Secretary of the European Atomic forum said that, "accountability is in the remit of government policies, which have not reached adequate political decisions" on nuclear waste management issues. MEP, Gérard Caudron (GUE, France) noted that, "We have to make costly decisions very soon, not without risk, and which will have an impact in many decades' time".