Reset Critical Issues

Critical Issues
- Reset of U.S. Nuclear Waste Management Strategy and Policy
- The creation of a new waste management organization
- Definition of a consent-based process for siting nuclear facilities
- Integrated analysis of the entire waste generating system
- Regulations, risk and safety
- Where are the risks with present U.S. policy?
- Reset Nuclear Waste Policy
Reset of U.S. Nuclear Waste Management Strategy and Policy
In a first meeting on February 17-18, 2015, the Steering Committee of the "Reset" initiative identified five critical issues, each of which was the subject of a separate meeting.
The creation of a new waste management organization
Definition of a consent-based process for siting nuclear facilities
Although the Blue Ribbon Commission and, recently, the DOE have referred to the need for a consent-based process, there is little discussion of what this means and how such a process might be designed. A consent-based process requires the blending of social and technical criteria in the selection, characterization and development of a geologic repository, but there has been no effort to design a technically based, legal process that is compatible with the needs of a community, tribes, the states and the federal government. Simple questions remain unanswered, such as: What constitutes consent? How does a community or state give informed consent? When and how can a community withdraw consent? Can a consent-based siting process succeed in the United States? This was the subject of a meeting on March 9 - 10, 2016.
Integrated analysis of the entire waste generating system
The value of a “total system analysis,” from the point of waste generation to its final disposal, is generally recognized. However, such an evaluation has not been carried out in terms of the analysis of risk, the development of incentives, or the development of a consistent regulatory framework. In fact, there are many disconnects in the U.S. approach. For example, the nuclear utilities can make locally rational decisions about the storage of their spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that have the effect of complicating its final disposal. This was the subject of a meeting on May 17-18, 2016.
Regulations, risk and safety
The present regulatory framework for a geologic repository in the U.S., unlike other nations, requires the quantitative calculation of risk out to hundreds of thousands of years. Is such an approach necessary or even possible? Does such an approach instill public confidence or skepticism? What are the alternative approaches adopted abroad? The revision of the regulations and standards may open the way to a more straightforward siting process for nuclear facilities and generate greater public acceptance. These questions were the subject of a meeting on October 26-27, 2016.
Where are the risks with present U.S. policy?
It has been common to focus on very long-term risk, but the steering committee determined that in order to develop a compelling case for a new U.S. policy, it was necessary to understand the risks of continued delay of the U.S. waste program. Absent from present discussions is a clear understanding of the risks over the next several hundreds of years. These are the risks that are of greatest interest to the affected public.
Reset Nuclear Waste Policy
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Steering Committee Statement
Each of these critical issues has a generally unappreciated level of complexity. The discussion of each issue requires input across the broadest range of disciplines – science, engineering, social science, political science, and the law. The discussions also importantly benefit from the participation of concerned members of the public, tribes, state governments, national laboratories, and universities, as well as members of the executive and legislative branches of government.