3. Results

3.1. Regulatory restrictions on Nuclear Communication

Nuclear legislation is ample and does not contemplate detailed and non-voluntary regulation on how nuclear plants are to communicate with different interest groups under normal circumstances.

3.1.1. The international setting

There are international treaties or declarations –some non-binding– subscribed to by States. The Aarhus Convention was signed by the European Union and 51 European and Asian States on June 25, 1998 in Denmark. This international treaty guarantees the rights of citizens to information, to participation in the decision-making process and to access to justice in matters pertaining to the environment.

Aarhus is an international treaty that affects the nuclear sector. Article 4 of the treaty includes citizens’ right to be informed on environmental matters4 by public authorities5, and the responsibility of the latter to inform the former on the environment in a transparent manner6.

Article 5 of Aarhus also points to the obligation to immediately release information to those persons who may be affected by any health or environmental threats, whether occasioned by natural causes or human activities.

Aarhus is an inheritance of the 1992 Rio Declaration7. Article 10 of the Brazilian letter calls for transparent information from States in environmental matters:

“At national level, every citizen must have adequate access to that information on the environment in possession of the public authorities, including information on those materials and activities that may pose a danger in their communities, as well as the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. The States shall facilitate and encourage awareness among the population by making this information available to all. Effective access must be provided to the corresponding administrative and judicial processes, among these, indemnification for damages and the pertinent resources”.

Article 18 of the declaration calls on the States to inform the public immediately in cases of disasters and emergency situations which could affect the environment.

Twenty years after that meeting, the United Nations’ Conference on Sustainable Development was held in Río de Janeiro, which reaffirmed the substance of Río ‘92 as regards the object of our study8.