The Rio Declaration is considered soft law9 as the responsibility of the States goes no further than a moral commitment or a declaration of intentions. However, Aarhus is of an obligatory nature for the countries that subscribe to it10.

3.1.2. The European setting

Member States of the European Union are obliged to include European directives in their national legislation. Safety in nuclear plants and the management of spent fuel is an exclusive competence of the Member States.

With the birth of the Euratom Treaty11, the European Union established directives on nuclear energy, with the objective of protecting European citizens from radiation and protecting the environment.

The latest European directive on nuclear energy and safety established basic norms on nuclear safety for the member States of the European Union. This 2014 directive also includes some general norms corresponding to communication with the general public. Article 8 calls for transparency by the States –in plant safety matters– towards the main interest groups in the vicinity of the plants, that is, local population centres, local authorities, and the plant’s workers.

Furthermore, it is also established as an obligation that plant management and the competent regulatory organs provide information to the workers of the plant, local authorities and the general public, not only regarding the ordinary operation of the plant, but also that these stakeholders be swiftly informed of accidents or incidents.

This transparency demanded of member States may be linked to the acceptance by public opinion of nuclear energy, as indicated by Ruiz de Apodaca (2010:9): “Transparency, information and participation in the making of these decisions is what generates the necessary trust between the public, nuclear industry and regulators, thus permitting the exercise of such activities”.

Cornadó (2006:34) also mentions the transparency that the legislation grants to the nuclear sector: “Nuclear regulations foresaw, from the first moment, a complete and complex information system concerning all the industrial process related to the nuclear generation of electricity. This type of information grants a significant degree of transparency to the activities of the sector”.

Muñoz (2012:35), a journalist in the communication team of the Nuclear Safety Council, speaks on the same lines: “we must be prepared to respond to a society that not only demands that things are done properly, but that they are done transparently. Transparency and communication are crucial affairs in the information society of the XXI century”.

It can be said that the starting point for the building of public trust in nuclear affairs is to be found in transparent information from the nuclear authorities to the citizens in each State, this being true in all those areas that concern them regarding nuclear matters (safety, health and the environment).