The Nuclear Energy Option for the U.S.--How Far Are We from Public Acceptance?

Conference · Sun Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2004

OSTI ID:839462

Biedscheid, J A; Devarakonda, M

The recent rise of oil and gasoline prices accompanied by reluctant acknowledgement that traditional sources of energy are limited has renewed public interest in renewable energy sources. This perspective on energy is focusing attention on and facilitating acceptance of alternative energy concepts, such as solar, wind, and biomass. The nuclear energy alternative, while clean with potentially abundant fuel supplies and associated with low costs, is burdened with the frequently negative public opinion reserved for things nuclear. Coincident with the heightened examination of alternative energy concepts, 2004 marks the 25-year anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident. Since this pivotal accident in 1979, no new reactor licenses have been granted in the U.S. The resolution of the issues of nuclear waste management and disposition are central to and may advance public discussions of the future use of nuclear energy. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is currently preparing the licensing application for Yucca Mountain, which was designated in 2003 as the site for a high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel repository in the U.S. The DOE also has been operating a deep geologic repository for the permanent disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste since 1999. The operational status of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) as a repository for TRU waste was successfully realized along with the lesson learned that stakeholder trust and acceptance are as critical to the success of a repository program as the resolution of technical issues and obtaining regulatory approvals. For the five years of its operation and for decades prior, the challenge of attaining public acceptance of the WIPP has persisted for reasons aligned with the opposition to nuclear energy. Due to this commonality, the nuclear waste approach to public acceptance, with its pros and cons, provides a baseline for the examination of an approach for the public acceptance of nuclear energy in the U.S. This paper will present these concepts and discuss the future of nuclear energy in the U.S. in light of the challenge of gaining public acceptance.

• Research Organization: Washington TRU Solutions LLC, Albuquerque, NM 87109 USA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• OSTI ID: 839462
• Resource Relation: Conference: Americas Nuclear Energy Symposium (ANES 2004), Miami, FL (US), 10/03/2004--10/06/2004; Other Information: PBD: 3 Oct 2004
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
02 PETROLEUM
09 BIOMASS FUELS
ACCIDENTS
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
BIOMASS
FOCUSING
FUEL SUPPLIES
GASOLINE
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUCLEAR FUELS
PUBLIC OPINION
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RESOLUTION
WASTES
WIPP
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
SPENT FUELS
PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
TRANSURANIC WASTE