Nuclear Waste Stalemate: Political and Scientific Controversies

by Robert Vandenbosch, Susanne E Vandenbosch

Overview

Diminishing oil supplies, global warming due to use of fossil fuels, persistent strife in the Middle East, and increasing demands for energy have led to the search for additional energy sources. Many feel that a significant expansion of nuclear power will be necessary to meet projected needs. However, although nuclear power has been produced commercially for over thirty years, no country has yet found a permanent solution for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste. This book examines the complex political, legal, and scientific issues relating to the disposal of that waste.
The political controversies discussed here include the power of governors to veto placement of high-level nuclear waste repositories in their states, the use of incentives for spent-fuel acceptance, the use of Indian reservations as host sites, control of a Nuclear Waste Fund, and whether a state without a nuclear reactor should be required to accept spent fuel.
The scientific controversies discussed include monitored surface storage versus permanent geological disposal, burial above or below the water table, the probability of serious seismic and volcanic events, and long-term hazard assessment. This book is unique in its comprehensive discussion of the issues related to nuclear waste storage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874809039
Publisher:	University of Utah Press
Publication date:	09/25/2007
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Robert Vandenbosch is emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Washington and has published extensively in physics and chemistry journals and lectured widely throughout the world. He is co-author of Nuclear Fission.
Susanne E. Vandenbosch received her PhD in political science from the University of Washington. Her research has been published in several political science journals.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Preface     xi
Introduction     1
Alternatives for the Management of Radioactive Waste     6
Surface Storage and Deep Geological Disposal     7
Reprocessing of Spent Fuel     15
Transmutation of Radioactive Waste     21
Overview of Legislative and Executive Actions Concerning High-Level Radioactive Waste     35
Early Efforts Regarding Waste Disposal     35
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982     39
The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987     41
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 and Yucca Mountain Radiation Standards     42
The Years between 1992 and Presidential Approval in 2002     43
The Clock Starts Ticking: 2002 Approval of Yucca Mountain     44
Setbacks on the Way to a Licensing Application     45
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982: Adoption of a Policy for the Disposal of Spent Fuel from Commercial Reactors     50
Factors Leading Up to the Adoption of a Disposal Policy for High-Level Nuclear Waste     50
The Politics of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act     52
Analysis of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act     55
Political Aftermath of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act     57
Narrowing the List ofCandidate Sites for the First Repository     60
The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987
Postponement of the Second Repository     72
Candidate States for the First Repository Object     73
Monitored Retrievable Storage     76
Offering Incentives for a Repository     80
Udall Proposes a Moratorium     82
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board     83
Selection of Yucca Mountain for the First Repository     84
Political Aftermath of the 1987 Act     88
Attempts to Store Waste on Indian Reservations     97
Yucca Mountain as a Repository     105
Description     105
Local Government Environment: Nye County     115
Political Environment: Nevada and Yucca Mountain     116
The Energy Act of 1992 and Yucca Mountain Radiation Standards     131
Introduction of Nuclear Waste Provisions into the Energy Act of 1992     131
The National Academy of Sciences Report     133
Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada     133
The 2002 Approval of the Yucca Mountain Repository     139
House Action     141
Senate Action     146
Political Aftermath of the 2002 Act      162
Court Appeals     173
The Nevada Suit against the Department of Energy, Secretary Abraham, and President Bush     174
Nevada Challenges the Constitutionality of the Joint Resolution     180
Nevada and the Natural Resources Defense Council v. the Environmental Protection Agency     182
Nevada v. the Nuclear Regulatory Commission     185
The Court Hears Oral Argument     187
The Court Decides     188
Transportation of Spent Fuel to Yucca Mountain     199
High-Level Nuclear Waste Disposal in Other Countries     214
Canada     219
France     220
Germany     223
United Kingdom     224
Sweden     230
Finland     237
Japan     238
Russia     241
India     244
China     244
International Repository Proposals     245
Overview     246
Organizations Concerned with Nuclear Waste Issues     260
Principles Guiding Radioactive Waste Management     267
A Visit to Yucca Mountain     275
U.S. Secretaries of Energy     278
U.S. Department of Energy Guidelines for Repository Site Recommendations      289
Organizations Opposed to the Yucca Mountain Repository     292
Supporters of the Yucca Mountain Repository     294
Selected Bibliography     297
Index     301