Abstract
Activities that the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) has carried out during a half century in Cordoba city show a long misunderstanding and confrontations with the provincial and municipal authorities, and with the neighbors and environmentalist antinuclear organizations. Most of the information that the people have received about the risks and benefits of the activities has generally been produced by the media. The media have always started the pressures on the political leadership and the government officials, to get measures on activities that are perceived as excessively dangerous. However the experience indicates that the demands for the protection of the health or the environment and sometimes the claiming for the closing of the facilities have been directly related with what people really know about the activities in the site. All that they know, comes from listening the radio and television or reading the newspapers. The common denominator that one observes in the conflicts of the past, is the high degree of ignorance on the part of the citizenship on the activities that are carried out in the place. This is valid for the neighbors of the place, for the competent authorities and even for the Cordoba's scientific and technical qualified
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Martin, Hugo R
[1]
- Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Mendoza (Argentina). Regional Cuyo
Citation Formats
Martin, Hugo R.
Institutional opening: contribution to the public acceptance of the nuclear activities; Apertura institucional: una contribucion a la aceptacion publica de las actividades nucleares.
Argentina: N. p.,
2003.
Web.
Martin, Hugo R.
Institutional opening: contribution to the public acceptance of the nuclear activities; Apertura institucional: una contribucion a la aceptacion publica de las actividades nucleares.
Argentina.
Martin, Hugo R.
2003.
"Institutional opening: contribution to the public acceptance of the nuclear activities; Apertura institucional: una contribucion a la aceptacion publica de las actividades nucleares."
Argentina.
@misc{etde_20498866,
title = {Institutional opening: contribution to the public acceptance of the nuclear activities; Apertura institucional: una contribucion a la aceptacion publica de las actividades nucleares}
author = {Martin, Hugo R}
abstractNote = {Activities that the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) has carried out during a half century in Cordoba city show a long misunderstanding and confrontations with the provincial and municipal authorities, and with the neighbors and environmentalist antinuclear organizations. Most of the information that the people have received about the risks and benefits of the activities has generally been produced by the media. The media have always started the pressures on the political leadership and the government officials, to get measures on activities that are perceived as excessively dangerous. However the experience indicates that the demands for the protection of the health or the environment and sometimes the claiming for the closing of the facilities have been directly related with what people really know about the activities in the site. All that they know, comes from listening the radio and television or reading the newspapers. The common denominator that one observes in the conflicts of the past, is the high degree of ignorance on the part of the citizenship on the activities that are carried out in the place. This is valid for the neighbors of the place, for the competent authorities and even for the Cordoba's scientific and technical qualified community. From the analysis it also arises that the conflicts were originated by the absence of preventive actions to assist them properly (or to neutralize them in premature form) as well as for fair reasons related with unacceptable risks for the society. Finally the facts have demonstrated that the incompatibility among the reasoning of the technicians supporting their positions in rational arguments and the fundamentalism of the environmentalist's methodology using incomplete and emotional arguments, makes impossible a sustainable agreement for the development of the activities of the CNEA in Cordoba city. The origin of the conflicts are essentially two: the existence in the site of the residues of the minerals treated between 1954 and 1975 and the operation of the uranium oxide production plant of Dioxitek S.A. In the first case, the sole fact that there are 'residues' implies a negative connotation for the society. Their definitive uselessness and therefore the necessity of their elimination so soon and as far away as possible, is a natural perception in the population, also increased in this particular case for the use (and abusing in many opportunities) of the 'radioactive' or 'nuclear' adjectives. With them, a type of practically unknown risk is identified by the common man: the effects of the ionizing radiation on the life and the environment. In what concerns the operation of the plant, the doubts on possible accidents, or the final destination of their wastes and residues, is the main concern in the local community. On this background, during the year 2003, and taking into account the responsibility of informing the population on what is carried out in the facilities, the CNEA began a process of institutional opening. The legislators of the Commission of Ecological Matters of the Legislature of Cordoba, the members of educational centers and students of schools near to the site, officials of the municipal institutions, (Center of Communal Participation and Alta Cordoba Cultural Center), members of civil organizations with community ends (Association of Friends of the Belgrano Railways and Municipal Club) and neighbors have been invited to visit the site. The experience has shown to be doubly effective: on one hand the visitors manifested a clear support to the activities that are carried out in the site, ratifying their trust in the capacity of the CNEA to conduct them. On the other, the own personnel working in the place has appraised the importance that its daily work has for the society. (author)}
place = {Argentina}
year = {2003}
month = {Jul}
}
title = {Institutional opening: contribution to the public acceptance of the nuclear activities; Apertura institucional: una contribucion a la aceptacion publica de las actividades nucleares}
author = {Martin, Hugo R}
abstractNote = {Activities that the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) has carried out during a half century in Cordoba city show a long misunderstanding and confrontations with the provincial and municipal authorities, and with the neighbors and environmentalist antinuclear organizations. Most of the information that the people have received about the risks and benefits of the activities has generally been produced by the media. The media have always started the pressures on the political leadership and the government officials, to get measures on activities that are perceived as excessively dangerous. However the experience indicates that the demands for the protection of the health or the environment and sometimes the claiming for the closing of the facilities have been directly related with what people really know about the activities in the site. All that they know, comes from listening the radio and television or reading the newspapers. The common denominator that one observes in the conflicts of the past, is the high degree of ignorance on the part of the citizenship on the activities that are carried out in the place. This is valid for the neighbors of the place, for the competent authorities and even for the Cordoba's scientific and technical qualified community. From the analysis it also arises that the conflicts were originated by the absence of preventive actions to assist them properly (or to neutralize them in premature form) as well as for fair reasons related with unacceptable risks for the society. Finally the facts have demonstrated that the incompatibility among the reasoning of the technicians supporting their positions in rational arguments and the fundamentalism of the environmentalist's methodology using incomplete and emotional arguments, makes impossible a sustainable agreement for the development of the activities of the CNEA in Cordoba city. The origin of the conflicts are essentially two: the existence in the site of the residues of the minerals treated between 1954 and 1975 and the operation of the uranium oxide production plant of Dioxitek S.A. In the first case, the sole fact that there are 'residues' implies a negative connotation for the society. Their definitive uselessness and therefore the necessity of their elimination so soon and as far away as possible, is a natural perception in the population, also increased in this particular case for the use (and abusing in many opportunities) of the 'radioactive' or 'nuclear' adjectives. With them, a type of practically unknown risk is identified by the common man: the effects of the ionizing radiation on the life and the environment. In what concerns the operation of the plant, the doubts on possible accidents, or the final destination of their wastes and residues, is the main concern in the local community. On this background, during the year 2003, and taking into account the responsibility of informing the population on what is carried out in the facilities, the CNEA began a process of institutional opening. The legislators of the Commission of Ecological Matters of the Legislature of Cordoba, the members of educational centers and students of schools near to the site, officials of the municipal institutions, (Center of Communal Participation and Alta Cordoba Cultural Center), members of civil organizations with community ends (Association of Friends of the Belgrano Railways and Municipal Club) and neighbors have been invited to visit the site. The experience has shown to be doubly effective: on one hand the visitors manifested a clear support to the activities that are carried out in the site, ratifying their trust in the capacity of the CNEA to conduct them. On the other, the own personnel working in the place has appraised the importance that its daily work has for the society. (author)}
place = {Argentina}
year = {2003}
month = {Jul}
}