Segurança de barragens e governança de risco em hidrelétricas na Amazônia

Abstract

The construction and operation of hydroelectric power plants produce risks, including dam failure, and damage to downstream communities. These technological risks may be fraught with complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguities. In this context, dam safety management needs to be expanded in a risk governance process. This governance has as fundamental components the prediction of spaces of participation and social involvement, as well as risk communication. This case study presents the risk governance analysis in the dam’s safety regulation scenario, taking into account the Amazon region context, and the case of the Tucuruí hydroelectric power plant. The analytical stage of this research involved the use of French Discourse Analysis concepts to reveal discursiveness regarding the presence of participation channels, or the silencing of social involvement in dam safety management. To do this, data were selected from four main groups: technical documents (reports and manuals), legal-normative documents (legislation and normative resolution), scientific manuscripts, as well as semi-structured interviews. These interviews were carried out from the definition of three groups in the governance arena: the regulated one, the regulators and social groups affected by the risk. Thus, it was identified that in the case of the Tucuruí hydroelectric plant, there is no communication channels and spaces of social participation for the effective social involvement in risk governance. Therefore, there is a limitation of the social group contribution in the dam safety management, as well as weaknesses in the decision-making, in the risk governance. From the point of view of dam safety regulation, it is understood that effective channels of dialogue between dam developers, regulators and the community affected by the risk should be provided, guaranteeing the effective inclusiveness of risk governance.