Management of High-Level Waste Repository Siting

Abstract

The selection of sites to store high-level radioactive waste will require more than technical decisions; an acceptable site must gain widespread public support. Ad hoc approaches have recently served as a stimulus to overcome institutional inertia in radioactive waste management, as exemplified by the Interagency Review Group and the State Planning Council for Radioactive Waste Management, but ad hoc approaches have not characteristically succeeded in resolving intense conflicts. Acceptable sites can best be established through traditional processes of legal and scientific advocacy, and their ultimate legitimacy will depend on the proper use of established democratic processes.