Developing Dialogue with Public Environmental Organizations: The Case of the Russian Nuclear Industry, Its Problems and Opportunities

The article discusses the main features of the consolidation of the dialogue between the Russian nuclear industry and public environmental organizations in a situation characterized by the declining appeal of the nuclear industry. The research demonstrates that public environmental organizations, experts and academics, play a signifi cant role in the transformation of the social perception of nuclear energy, from its inadmissibility to a new degree of relevance. The article provides a historical overview of the public activity concerning the environmental protection, from its inception to the recent stage, when public environmental organizations gained some infl uence over the decision-making process concerning the development of some economic sectors (illustrated by the example of the nuclear industry). The author highlights several important types of public ecological organizations activity, from concrete actions of activists (picketing, rallies, protests), to the involvement of citizens in the decision-making process by engaging in a constructive dialogue between the state and the society. The article provides a set of specifi c conditions which are necessary for an eff ective cooperation and work of the expert community, reaching the conclusion that public environmental organizations have exercised signifi cant impact on the decisions of public authorities due to the fact that their leaders are members of intelligentsia and leading experts in the fi eld, namely: military servants, scientists, politicians.

References

1. Communication and Stakeholder Involvement in Environmental Remediation Projects. Vienna: International Atomic Agency, 2014, URL: https://www-pub.iaea.org/ MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1629_web.pdf 
2. Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R. K., and Meyer, L. A. (eds.) Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva: IPCC, 2015, URL: https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full.pdf 
3. Danilov-Danil’ian, V. I. “Ustoichivoe razvitie i neskonchaemye diskussii o nem,” Ekologicheskii ezhegodnik, No. 2, 2008, pp. 6–13. 
4. Gorin, N. V., Golovikhina, O. S., Abramova, N. L., Nechaeva, S. V., Matveeva, L. G. “Razvitie initsiativy Goskorporatsii ‘Rosatom’: obrazovatel’nyi proekt ‘Zelenyi kvadrat’,” Pedagogicheskoe obrazovanie v Rossii, No. 12, 2018, pp. 23–29. 
5. Kapitsa, P. L. “Energiia i fi zika: Doklad na nauchnoi sessii, posviashchennoi 250-letiiu Akademii nauk SSSR, Moskva, 8 oktiabria 1975 goda,” Vestnik AN SSSR, No. 1, 1976, pp. 34–43. 
6. Khalii, I. A. “Etapy vzaimodeistviia rossiiskogo ekologicheskogo dvizheniia s vlastiami,” Politicheskaia nauka, No. 2, 2010, pp. 132–157. 
7. Khalii, I. A. “Okruzhaiushchaia sreda kak faktor aktivnosti politicheskikh partii na mestnom urovne,” Vlast’, No. 1, 2014, pp. 27–31. 
8. Meadows, D., Meadows, D., and Randers, J. Predely rosta. 30 let spustia. Moscow: Akademkniga, 2007. 
9. Medvedev, Zh. The Nuclear Disaster in the Urals. New York: W.W. Norton, Incorporated, 1979. 
10. Mel’nikova, N. V., Artemov, E. T., Bedel’, A. E., Voloshin, N. P., and Mikheev, M. V. Istoriia vzaimodeistviia iadernoi energii i obshchestva v Rossii. Ekaterinburg: Izdatel’stvo Ural’skogo universiteta, 2018. 
11. Ponomarev-Stepnoi, N. N. “Dvukhkomponentnaia iadernaia energeticheskaia sistema s zamknutym iadernym toplivnym tsiklom na osnove BN i VVER,” Atomnaia energeia, Vol. 120, No. 4, 2016, pp. 183–191. 
12. Ponomarev, L. I. “Bez iadernoi energetiki u nyneshnei tsivilizatsii net budushchego,” Atomnyi ekspert, No. 3–4, 2018, pp. 70–75. 
13. Privlechenie zainteresovannykh storon k resheniiu iadernykh voprosov. INSAG-20: Doklad Mezhdunarodnoi gruppy po iadernoi bezopasnosti. Vena: Mezhdunarodnoe agentstvo po atomnoi energii, 2015. URL: https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/ PDF/PUB1276_R_web.pdf 
14. Sarkisov, A. A. “Fenomen vospriiatiia obshchestvennym soznaniem opasnosti, sviazannoi s iadernoi energetikoi,” Nauchno-tekhnicheskie vedomosti Sankt- Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo politekhnicheskogo universiteta. Nauka i obrazovanie, No. 3–2, 2012, pp. 9–21. 
15. Stakeholder Involvement Throughout the Life Cycle of Nuclear Facilities. Vienna: International Atomic Agency, 2011, URL: https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/ PDF/Pub1520_web.pdf 
16. Suleimanova, Sh. S. “Zhurnalistika mezhdu svobodoi i kontrolem. Vlast’ i sredstva massovoi informatsii,” Kommunikologiia, No. 6, 2014, pp. 201–213. 
17. Tolstikov, V. S., and Kuznetsov, V. N. “Kyshtymskaia radiatsionnaia avariia 1957 goda: pervye otsenki radiatsionnoi obstanovki posle vzryva,” Global’naia iadernaia bezopasnost’, No. 2, 2018, pp. 107–115.