Environmental justice and public participation :a case study of nuclear waste managment and policy in Taiwan

Abstract

using an environmental justice approach. This research comprises three parts: first, the nature of radioactive waste; second, the theory of environmental justice; and third, the case study of nuclear waste siting policy in Taiwan. In the first part, background information is provided to understand what nuclear waste is; how it has been managed in different countries; and the difficulties and uncertainties of nuclear waste management. In the second part of this research, the idea of environmental justice is employed as a theoretical framework to interpret nuclear waste policy and the policy process in Taiwan. Environmental justice is derived from the environmental justice movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Environmental justice issues are two-fold: distributive justice refers to the distribution of environmental risks among different communities, and procedural justice refers to the access of citizens to decision-making processes that affect their environment. Finally, the case study of nuclear waste management and politics in Taiwan serves as the third part of this project. Through the lens of principles of environmental justice, the historical development of nuclear waste in Taiwan is examined. The process and progress of protracted attempts to site a new nuclear waste repository in Taiwan is investigated in considerable detail by conducting interviews with government officials, NGOs, and members of local communities. Particular attention was paid to the decision-making process and to the involvement of minority and low income iii communities in that process. The overall purpose of this project is to determine how far the ideas and principles of environmental justice have informed the nuclear waste management policies of Taiwan. By examining how consistent nuclear waste management in Taiwan complies with the idea of environmental justice, this project contributes to the growing literature on an urgent policy issue, and helps members of local communities, government officials and politicians to develop a greater awareness of the problems and issues of nuclear waste.