Dialog with stakeholders

A policy for open dialog

In line with the group's transparency policy, AREVA is committed to promoting information for the public. As the nuclear power industry is often the focus of national and international debate, AREVA Tricastin's management is in touch with a variety of interlocutors representing labor, the general public, economic interests, academia, industry, and science.

This openness finds expression in the regular meetings, communications (written, online, and at organized events), and collaborations with various organizations.

AREVA also enjoys conferring with mayors, deputy mayors, town counselors (officials exercising mandates from local constituencies).

A public inquiry on the new Georges Besse II plant

As part of the construction project for the new Georges Besse II plant on the Tricastin site, a public inquiry has been organized in order to give any interested parties the opportunity to learn about the project and express any questions or concerns.

Public inquiry files have been made available to the public for the duration of the inquiry at the town halls indicated in the bylaws of the prefecture.

The public inquiry was held from Monday December 22, 2008 to Friday January 30, 2009 in the districts of Pierrelatte, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, Bollène, Lapalud, Bourg-Saint-Andéol, and Pont-Saint-Esprit.

Local residents: inform and answer questions

The public at large, oftentimes living close to the group’s industrial sites, must be kept well-informed and must feel free to talk with site representatives.

Determined to ensure transparency and maintain open dialogue with local residents, the management of  Tricastin participates in major local events, such as the Bollène fair, the “Atout Tricastin” forum and career and job fairs held at St.-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Montélimar. The overriding goal is to meet with the general public, explain the site’s activities and answer questions.

To make sure that durable ties are established with local community players, information meetings with neighbors were held at the beginning of January 2009 at the Tricastin nuclear complex. Attended by 75 neighboring residents, the meeting was focused on a detailed update of Tricastin’s current industrial, economic and social challenges and on the progress made in improving the on-site environmental procedures engaged in by AREVA. This dialogue session with local populations was in follow-up to two meetings organized during the summer of 2008.

Public inquiries

In 2009, two regulatory public inquiry proceedings took place:

• The first regarding a design change for the Georges Besse II plant (December 22nd, 2008 through January 30th, 2009)
• The second in relation to a request to make a change in COMURHEX plant operation (April 27th through June 3rd, 2009)

Specific communication actions were undertaken to update the various stakeholders concerned:

• Brochures on these two topics were prepared to provide information and accompany the public inquiries; these were widely distributed to personnel in the town halls of 20 communities surrounding the site, which constitutes an area greater than that covered by the PPI (emergency response plan). Brochures were also given to elected officials during meetings set up with them.
• A presentation of the public inquiries was made to elected officials in the town halls of the communities in proximity.
• The entire public inquiry file was made available on AREVA’s website and was visited by nearly 180 persons during the Comurhex Pierrelate public inquiry proceedings.

The topics of both public inquiries received a favorable response on the part of the inquiry commission.