Managing the nation's commercial high-level radioactive waste

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Underground Space; (United States)

OSTI ID:6928541

Cotton, T

With the passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), Congress for the first time established in law a comprehensive Federal policy for commercial high-level radioactive waste management, including interim storage and permanent disposal. NWPA provides sufficient authority for developing and operating a high-level radioactive waste management system based on disposal in mined geologic repositories. Authorization for other types of waste facilities will not be required unless major problems with geologic disposal are discovered, and studies to date have identified no insurmountable technical obstacles to developing geologic repositories. The NWPA requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to submit to Congress three key documents: (1) a Mission Plan, containing both a waste management plan with a schedule for transferring waste to Federal facilities and an implementation program for choosing sites and developing technologies to carry out that plan; (2) a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) proposal, to include a site-specific design for a long-term federal storage facility, an evaluation of whether such an MRS facility is needed and feasible, and an analysis of how an MRS facility would be integrated with the repository program if authorized by Congress; and (3) a study of alternative institutional mechanisms for financing and managing the radioactive waste system, including the option of establishing an independent waste management organization outside of DOE. The Mission Plan and the report on alternative institutional mechanisms were submitted to the 99th US Congress in 1985. The MRS proposal is to be submitted in early 1986. Each of these documents is discussed following an overview of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

• Research Organization: Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, DC
• OSTI ID: 6928541
• Journal Information: Underground Space; (United States), Journal Name: Underground Space; (United States) Vol. 9:5-6; ISSN UNSPD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
IMPLEMENTATION
LAWS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REGULATIONS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
STORAGE
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES