Nuclear Waste Disposal and Liability Issues

Management of civilian radioactive waste has posed difficult issues for Congress since the beginning of the nuclear power industry in the 1950s. Federal policy is based on the premise that nuclear waste can be disposed of safely, but proposed storage and disposal facilities have frequently been challenged on safety, health, and environmental grounds. Although civilian radioactive waste encompasses a wide range of materials, most of the current debate focuses on highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 requires the DOE to dispose of the waste in a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. This book examines the key attributes, challenges, alternatives, and costs of the Yucca Mountain repository, and the liability issues of nuclear waste disposal.