Survey of National Programs for Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel
Survey of National Programs for Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel
The creation of high-activity, long-lived radioactive waste is an inevitable consequence of generating electricity in nuclear power plants. It also is an inevitable consequence of engaging in a set of activities associated with national defense, ranging from propelling nuclear submarines to producing the fissionable materials needed to construct nuclear weapons. Early in the nuclear era, the very-longterm management and the ultimate disposition of those wastes was not a high priority.