Consultation on the options for clean-up
Particles have been the subject of much debate over the years. It is a subject that impacts on individuals and the local community and is of great interest to some throughout the UK and further afield.
In trying to arrive at an environmentally and publicly acceptable way forward the site consulted extensively with key stakeholders and members of the public. This has resulted in the development of a forward programme of work to clean up the particles from the off-shore and onshore environment.
Consulting on the way forward
Full consultation began early in 2007 and lead to recommendations to Government bodies on the way forward which is environmentally and publicly acceptable.
What was done?
• External particles consultation steering group
• Stage two consultation - 2006
• Stage three consultation - 2007
• Stage four consultation - 2007
External particles consultation steering group
An independent steering group was established in 2003 to oversee the transparency of the consultation process. The steering group consists of:
Bill Fernie: Highland Council (Chairman)
John Thurso: MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Rick Nickerson: KIMO secretariat
Prof. Iain Baikie: Environment expert, KP Technology Ltd
Fred Barker: Consultant specialising in nuclear policy analysis and stakeholder engagement
Ian Clark: Dounreay Trade Unions
The steering group met as appropriate to discuss the proposals for public participation as it evolved. The minutes of their meetings are available here. Their final meeting took place on 17th January 2008.
Minutes of steering group meeting 17th January 2008
Minutes of steering group meeting 14th August 2007
Minutes of steering group meeting 15th November 2006
Minutes of steering group meeting 25th April 2006
Minutes of steering group meeting 11th March 2005
Minutes of steering group meeting 11th June 2004
Minutes of steering group meeting 13th February 2004
Minutes of steering group meeting 12th December 2003
Steering group Terms of Reference, February 2004
Stage two consultation
During January 2006, we launched stage two by engaging with stakeholders on their views of the long list of options which had been identified and the criteria which would be used to assess the feasible options later in the process. We wanted, at this stage, to make sure that no option or criterion had been overlooked. We:
- Distributed public participation newsletter Issue 5 to over 1,200 registered stakeholders and received 123 completed questionnaire returns;
- Held public exhibitions over a four day period in Thurso and Wick – over 200 people visited;
- Held a series of meetings, independently facilitated, with various local organisations – in total 89 people took part.
The following information on the options and criteria was posted on the website or made available in different formats on request.
Public exhibition posters: information displayed at public exhibitions.
Public participation newsletter, Issue 5:
background information giving brief details of the options and criteria identified.
Options and attributes document:
detailed information on the options and attributes.
Technical résumé:
The technical résumé has been updated and restructured, in line with DPAG's Third Report and was re-issued in July 2007
All feedback from questionnaires, exhibitions and discussion meetings wascaptured and reported. Entec UK Ltd, who acted as independent facilitators, produced two reports reflecting the views of stakeholders. A record of feedback received from the exhibitions and reports of all discussion groups, which were sent to all those who took part to ensure their accuracy.
Stage two report:
This report presents an analysis of the responses recorded on the feedback questionnaire and of outreach meeting discussions. Together with this analysis, an assessment of the engagement process is made and the recommendations for development of the BPEO and management strategy are distilled for UKAEA to consider.
Feedback questionnaires:
For completeness all feedback questionnaires or written submissions are available in uncensored form.
The project team reviewed all the feedback and made changes to the list of options and criteria. All questionnaires received were acknowledged and submissions were responded to.
Response to stage two consultation:
The recommendations made in Entec’s report were considered and this document sets out the changes that were made to the original list of options and criteria.
Submissions with specific questions were responded to individually – the submissions can be found in the feedback questionnaires above and responses to SEPA and Shetland Islands Council are also included.
• UKAEA response to SEPA, March 2006
• UKAEA response to Shetland Islands Council, June 2006
New lists of attributes and criteria were developed taking views into account.
• List of attributes, August 2006
• The complete list of options
Scoring panel
In July 2006 a Scoring Panel was established, comprising four UKAEA staff and five independent people who provided expertise in health and safety, socio-economics, technical feasibility and regional issues. The Scoring Panel met for one day to agree the process for considering the options against the assessment criteria. The Panel reconvened over a three day period to screen out options which were not viable, score the remaining options against the criteria, combine onshore and offshore options and then rescored the combinations. This process was observed by a member of the External Consultation Steering Group and was independently facilitated.
Minutes of meeting to agree the process
The methodology agreed is described here:
• Paper on methodology
Minutes of the meeting held with the Scoring Panel:
• Minutes of Scoring Panel
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Appendix 4
• Appendix 5
The Scoring Panel, after considerable discussion and debate, finalised the list of options and the list of assessment criteria, and agreed that 11 option combinations were feasible for in-depth assessment.
• List of options
• Combined options
Stage three consultation
In January 2007 a number of exhibitions were held to provide an update on the work done so far and to seek views on the relative importance of the criteria - environment, health and safety, technical, socio-economics and cost.
The information provided at the exhibition is as follows:
• Potential options for dealing with particles in the marine environment
• General information on Dounreay particles
During February a series of independently facilitated workshops took place where various groups of people looked at the potential options and discussed the relative importance of the option criteria. At the workshops background information was presented.
• Presentation to stakeholder workshops, February 2007
In addition to the workshops a newsletter and questionnaire was circulated in hard copy and on the website inviting responses
Public participation newsletter no 6, January 2007:
• Newsletter
Seventy written responses were received and can be seen below:
• Questionnaire responses
Following the 2007 exhibitions, workshops and questionnaire responses, Entec UK Ltd produced a report for the purpose of presenting and discussing the outcomes of the stakeholder consultation. The report presents an analysis of the consultation.
• Particles BPEO public consultation: analysis of the 2007 consultation, September 2007
PDF – 1.90MB
In response to Entec's report the site provided a response to the recommendations made:
• Response to analysis of the 2007 consultation, May 2007
Stage four consultation
As the final stage of consultation, comment was invited on the preliminary BPEO which recommends a way forward, outlines proposals for its implementation and provides preliminary estimates of timescale.
A newsletter provided a brief summary of the document, outlining the recommended way forward. Supplementary information, including the preliminary BPEO, was also made available for the public and other interested parties to consider.
The newsletter, including a questionnaire, was distributed in hard copy to over 1,400 registered stakeholders
• Particles BPEO newsletter, September 2007
In order to keep the newsletter as brief as possible the reader was considered to be knowledgeable about the progress of the consultation over the previous two years. An overview is available here.
• Fact sheet on the particles consultation process
The preliminary BPEO was written including public views, information from the ongoing studies which included laboratory tests, equipment trials and independent expert reports. This preliminary BPEO outlines the journey that was taken to arrive at the proposed recommendation for the way forward. A great deal of information underpins this document and is available on this web page.
• Preliminary BPEO document, September 2007
Thirty-three submissions to the questionnaire were received. Those providing personal details were provided with a response to issues that were raised. For completeness the questionnaires (and response) are available here:
• Questionnaire responses to the final stage of consultation
Independent facilitator, Entec UK Ltd, considered the feedback from the questionnaire and provided an analysis which is available here:
• Analysis of consultation responses on the draft BPEO document, February 2008
Entec's report was considered and a response provided.
• Response to Entec report
Following this, the draft particles BPEO document was finalised and sent to SEPA, NDA and the Scottish Government for consideration:
• Particles BPEO document, February 2008
The BPEO was adjusted to take account of comments received and an updated version published in July 2008
Consultation with the public during 2006
Consultation on the options during 2006
A consultative workshop in 2007
