The perception of the risks surrounding the french research CEA Cadarache site: reconcile the fears with the challenges

The CEA Cadarache is one of the 10 research centers of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). Distributed throughout various research platforms, it focus on nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, new energy technologies (hydrogen, solar, biomass) and fundamental research in the field of vegetal biology. The Government asked nuclear actors to open communication and to give all the information asked by the Local Information Commission (CLI) and the public. In its concern for its image and in a logic of the emergence of transparency in these last few years, the CEA Cadarache decided to bring the population's anxiety in consistency with the actual risks generated by the activities within the site of CEA Cadarache. The Communication and Public Affairs Department tasked with developing a communication strategy in order to reach the objective of affecting surrounding population's perception. First stated that we needed to know what the current perception on the CEA Cadarache is through a population survey. Results shows a better knowledge of the center's activities than anticipated, but still some lacks that could lead to unwanted stress in the event of an incident on the site. We worked on the elaboration of the communication campaign in consultation with psychology experts concerning the survey results. It has been decided to deploy four actions this year, as well as repeating the process of survey every two to three years and the setting up of a lasting structure of exchange with the population in a form yet to be determined. The effects of our communication campaign are measured in regard to the result of this second survey, two years after.