Citizen participation in high-level waste management. A brief commentary

In recent years, we have witnessed a sudden surge of interest in citizen participation in radioactive waste governance. This papers investigates the reasons behind this evolution, and asks the question whether it can be justified from an ethical point of view. We come to the conclusion that hidden behind an apparently simple plea for more participation lies a daunting complexity of (possibly conflicting) goals, expectations, experiences, conceptions of the self and society, and so on. Quite simply, there are no easy ‘ethical’ answers to the inherently ‘political’ question of participation. However, I have argued that, rather than being depressed by this state of affairs, one should feel invigorated by the political possibilities lying before us.