Press Release - Three potential candidate sites for a facility to handle, package and temporarily store spent nuclear fuel have been identified by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). If approved by Congress, the facility would receive spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants nationwide and package it for delivery to a permanent repository for final disposal.

The scientific, technical, and sociopolitical challenges of finding a secure site for a geological repository for radioactive wastes have created a long and stony path for many countries. Japan carried out many years of research and development before taking its first steps in site selection.

As outlined in the overall program for high-level waste (HLW) management in Japan, defined by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), HWL separated from spent nuclear fuel during reprocessing will be immobilized in a glass matrix and stored for a period of 30 to 50 years to allow cooling; it will then be disposed of in a stable deep geological formation.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) established a program to deal comprehensively with the waste byproducts of nuclear power generation, as well as defense-related radioactive wastes, if appropriate. Under this program, the federal Department of Energy (DOE) must locate and develop a site for disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in a geologic setting capable of isolating them from adverse public and environmental exposure for at least 10,000 and up to 100,000 years.

The structure of the Fourth National Report complies with the Guidelines Regarding the
Form and Structure of National Reports (INFCIRC/604/Rev.1).

Section A describes the scope of the nuclear activity developed in Argentina since 1950
as well as the legal and regulatory framework. It also makes reference to the Strategic
Plan for Radioactive Waste Management (Strategic Plan), which refers to the safety of
Spent Fuel Management and Radioactive Waste Management.

The primary objective of government policy, and of NUMO in implementing this policy, is to
ensure that a repository for Japan’s high-level radioactive waste is located so as to provide
secure isolation of the waste and adequate safety for present and future generations. This
means that the site has to be chosen carefully, taking full account of all its characteristics. In
order to address these characteristics in an orderly and structured manner, we have established

The effective termination of the Yucca Mountain program by the U.S. Administration in 2009 has further delayed the construction and operation of a permanent disposal facility for used fuel and high level radioactive waste (HLW) in the United States. In concert with this decision, the President directed the Energy Secretary to establish the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future to review and provide recommendations on options for managing used fuel and HLW.

Yucca Mountain—that barren rise in the desert ninety miles from Las Vegas—is the nation‘s only site identified for the potential location of the first ge ological repository for commercially-generated HLNW and SNF. Many assume
that Yucca Mountain has geologic and climatic qualities that make it uniquely
suitable to isolate the thousands of metric tons of the world‘s most lethal, long lived waste currently accumulating at 104 operating nuclear power plants across the United States.
Unfortunately, Yucca Mountain is an exceptionally bad site,

This guidance is aimed at helping readers understand the permitting and other requirements specific to Radioactive Substances Regulation (RSR). The RSR regime covers
- more than one European Directive, parts of which are also implemented by other regulatory regimes which, to an extent, complement RSR;
- various Government policies and strategies; and

The voluntary siting process for the Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility set forth in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (NWPAA) of 1987 provides a potential host community a unique opportunity to improve its present situation and to gain greater control over its future.

U.S. efforts to site and construct a deep geologic repository for used fuel and high level radioactive waste (HLW) proceeded in fits and starts over a three decade period from the late 1950s until 1982, when the U.S. Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). This legislation codified a national approach for developing a deep geologic repository. Amendment of the NWPA in 1987 resulted in a number of dramatic changes in direction for the U.S. program, most notably the selection of Yucca Mountain as the only site of the three remaining candidates for continued investigation.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations and guidance on the storage of spent nuclear fuel. It covers all types of storage facilities and all types of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and research reactors. It takes into consideration the longer storage periods that have become necessary owing to delays in the development of disposal facilities and the decrease in reprocessing activities. It also considers developments associated with nuclear fuel, such as higher enrichment, mixed oxide fuels and higher burnup.

The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership was set up
to consider the issues that would be involved in taking part in a search to see if there is
anywhere in the Allerdale and/or Copeland areas suitable for a repository for higher activity
radioactive waste.
Over the last three years we have looked at reports and literature, heard from experts in the
field, commissioned independent research and invited reviews by independent experts.
We have placed a high priority on public and stakeholder engagement (PSE), carrying out

Nuclear waste disposal in the USA is a difficult policy issue infused with
science, technology, and politics. This issue provides an example of the co-production
of scientific knowledge and politics through public policy. The proponents of a
repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, argue that their decision to go ahead
with the site is based on ‘sound science’, but the science they use to uphold their
decision is influenced by politics. In turn, the politics of site selection has been altered

Beginning with the role of "stakeholders" - those whose interests are, knowingly or unknowingly, affected - in the siting of noxious facilities, this paper seeks to develop principles for acceptable and democratically arrived at polices related to problems associated with advances in and products of science and technology. Although widely regarded as a necessary condition for success, the principles underpinning stakeholder involvement, such as representativeness, are often violated in practice.

The constraints set by the Japanese HLW disposal programme – particularly associated with
the decision to initiate siting by an open call for volunteers to host a geological repository –
pose particular challenges for repository project management. In order to maintain the
flexibility required to respond to the conditions found at volunteer sites, NUMO has not
published reference designs or site characterisation plans, as is normal for programmes
progressing by site nomination. Instead, we have developed a methodology – the NUMO

U.S. efforts to site and construct a deep geologic repository for used fuel and high level radioactive waste (HLW) proceeded sporadically over a three-decade period from the late 1950s until 1982, when the U.S. Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) codifying a national approach for developing a deep geologic repository. Amendment of the NWPA in 1987 resulted in a number of dramatic changes in direction for the U.S. program, most notably the selection of Yucca Mountain as the only site of the three remaining candidates for continued investigation.