154 | nº 31, pp. 153-166 | doxa.comunicación

July-December of 2020

Informational autonomy in Nuclear Communication: analysis of current legislation

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

1. Introduction

Opinion polls give clear results concerning the public’s acceptance of nuclear energy and its production plants: Spaniards have been against nuclear energy in recent years although the level of acceptance rises when there is greater knowledge concerning certain aspects of this energy source (Ipsos Consulting & Innova Investigación de Mercados, 2014-2018).

Spaniards have perceived, since the introduction of nuclear energy in the 60s, a lack of transparency and certain opaque manoeuvres on the part of successive governments and the companies operating nuclear plants. To this we can add a lack of knowledge on the part of the citizens, poor management of several incidents in Spain, deficient communication following some civil accidents (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima), anti-nuclear campaigning, the ideological position of some political and opinion leaders, uncertainty over the handling of radioactive waste, and fear of a potential nuclear accident as the principal causes of this uneasiness among the general population regarding nuclear energy, as shown by the main authors on this subject as well as polling by the CIS and Eurobarometer1.

These polls also show that safety, the environment, public health, accidents, the profitability of production and radioactive waste are the subjects which have dominated debate cyclically over time. Current debate in Spain centres on the closure of Spanish nuclear plants or on renewal of their operating licenses2.

Do Governments behave responsibly when they inform the public on the usefulness of this energy source? Does the regulator transmit transparent information to the public on events in nuclear plants? Do nuclear plants prioritize their own interests over giving a true picture of the sector? Are citizens really informed about nuclear energy? What obligations do the authorities have concerning information in the atomic sector? The right to information is enshrined in Article 20 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

The objective of this study is to ascertain how much independence nuclear plants really have when they inform the public and what legal restrictions they are subject to in the area of communication. Furthermore, once we have looked at the regulations governing Nuclear Communication, we intend to consider how, and in what situations, citizens are protected by the law as regards communication.

2. Methodology

This study poses the following questions:

Do nuclear plants in Spain have legal restrictions concerning communication, or are they free to inform the public in any and all situations?

Are citizens protected by the law as it stands on information concerning nuclear matters?

In order to answer these questions, we have developed the following methodology. Firstly, we have reviewed current nuclear legislation (international, European and national) to find out the regulatory limitations imposed on nuclear