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Title: A report on the Oregon Experiment: A grassroots approach to meaningful public involvement

Conference ·
OSTI ID:596891
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Oregon Dept. of Energy, Salem, OR (United States). Nuclear Safety Div.

In September and October 1995, the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) and the Oregon Hanford Waste Board (the Board) carried out an ambitious public involvement process. They set out to explore new ways to better involve the public in technical issues involving the US Department of Energy (USDOE). They selected the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials as the subject for the public involvement effort. They selected this EIS because of its high degree of technical complexity, its potential for impacting Hanford cleanup and Oregon, its broad reach of issues involving all USDOE sites and the long lead time it allowed for preparation. The traditional process used by USDOE for public involvement seldom allows external agencies sufficient lead time to develop good public involvement processes. For this EIS, USDOE began the public involvement process very early in the development of the EIS, which allowed them the lead time they needed. ODOE and the Board have a great deal of experience in working with the public on a wide range of nuclear issues. This project was larger and more complex than anything they had attempted before. They used several different forums and a common format. The public response was very positive and encouraging.

DOE Contract Number:
FG06-94RL12803
OSTI ID:
596891
Report Number(s):
CONF-960767-; TRN: 98:004693
Resource Relation:
Conference: 37. annual meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Naples, FL (United States), 28 Jul - 1 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of 37. annual meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management; PB: 1422 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English