Winning Community Support Through Proactive Communications

Abstract

For over 20 years the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office (LLRWMO) has conducted remedial projects in communities across Canada. Through experience in the various social climates of Canadian communities, the LLRWMO has learned that community involvement and communications are integral to a project's overall success. The Port Hope Area Initiative is the largest project ever undertaken by the LLRWMO and all the proactive communications and consultation lessons learned from other projects have been applied in the Port Hope and Port Granby communities. The relationship of trust and credibility built over 20 years of LLRWMO operations in Port Hope provides a firm foundation for moving forward with the cleanup and long-term safe management of approximately two million cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste and contaminated soil in the Port Hope and Port Granby communities.