Focused attention by world leaders is needed to address the substantial challenges posed by disposal of spent nuclear fuel from reactors and high-level radioactive waste from processing such fuel. The biggest challenges in achieving safe and secure storage and permanent waste disposal are societal, although technical challenges remain. Disposition of radioactive wastes in a deep geological repository is a sound approach as long as it progresses through a stepwise decision-making process that takes advantage of technical advances, public participation, and international cooperation. Written for concerned citizens as well as policymakers, this book was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and waste management organizations in eight other countries.

The origins of the current nuclear waste disposal crisis and directions for future policy

A flexible, high-interest program that can be used with all regulare and special students, grades 10-12. Each volume provides over 45 factual stories with related teaching materials, 15 at each level.

Critical in solving the nuclear waste problem are such issues as the techniques needed to equitably select waste repository sites; the implications for economies, populations, public services, social structures, and future generations in siting areas; the best means for mitigating short- and long-term public and private impact of repositories; and the type of citizen involvement that best ensures the full participation of national, state, and local interest groups in the siting process. The contributors to this book examine these and related issues, offering the perspectives of sociology, economics, philosophy, and political science and representing the differing views of various regions of the nation.