During the 1990s, nuclear waste programmes in nearly every concerned country met many difficulties. Nuclear waste management was seen as a technical issue, and the local communities were only involved in the last stage of the decision-making process when almost all components of the decision were already fixed. The management of high level radioactive waste is now recognised as a complex decision-making process entailing technical, ethical, social, political and economic dimensions where no solution can be reached solely on the basis of technical considerations.

Many nations and international agencies are working to develop improved technology and industrial capability for nuclear fuel cycle and waste management operations. The effort in some countries is limited to research in university laboratories on treating low-level waste from reactor plant operations.