Catapult at Society for Risk Analysis – Benelux Chapter: Advancing Public Participation in SMR Environmental Impact Assessments

On 21st of April, 2026, at a community center dedicated to nuclear waste and related radiological risks Tabloo in Dessel in Belgium, the SRA-Benelux Conference brought together researchers and practitioners in risk analysis. Tanja Perko presented selected results from the CATAPULT project in the session “Public involvement and technology development.” The presentation, “From Formal Consultation to Meaningful Engagement: Public Involvement in EIA for Small Modular Reactors,” was co-authored by Tanja Perko, Meritxell Martell, Rui Gaspar, Jonathan Reese, Samuel Domingos, and Ana Rita Farias. The findings from literature review and two workshops with the EIA experts suggest that, for SMR-related EIAs, stakeholder involvement can extend beyond predefined consultation formats to include influence over the framing and scope of the assessment (input legitimacy). The process itself can support more substantive deliberation, where participants are able to challenge assumptions and shape discussions rather than simply express views (procedural legitimacy). In turn, EIA outputs can make visible how stakeholder contributions are reflected in decisions, by clearly linking inputs to outcomes and demonstrating how different preferences and trade-offs have been considered (outcome legitimacy). This work is part of the CATAPULT project under the PIANOFORTE Partnership (Horizon Euratom).