In 2019, the NWMO commissioned Maawandoon Inc to lead Indigenous Dialogue session to support NWMO’s transportation planning for the long-term care of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. This research built upon and complemented public attitude research carried out in 2017 and 2018. The research methodology consisted of 7 Indigenous dialogue sessions and attendance at 3 Indigenous Annual General Assemblies (AGA)/meetings with dialogue components.

In 2002, the federal government passed a law to create the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, also known by its initials NWMO. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was established by Ontario Power Generation Inc., Hydro-Québec and New Brunswick Power Corporation in accordance with the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (NFWA) to assume responsibility for the long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. More specifically, the NWMO’s initial objective was to recommend a long-term approach for managing used nuclear fuel produced by Canada’s electricity generators.

Nuclear energy experts consider commercial power from fission to be a strong contender to help mitigate the increasing effects of climate change, in part due to its low-to-no carbon emissions. Nevertheless, nuclear energy's history, including meltdowns such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, and dumping in sacred Indigenous land such as Yucca Mountain, raises important concerns in public deliberation over nuclear power.

In this document, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) outlines its road map for implementing a consent-based siting process to site one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel. 

In October 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board or NWTRB) published Survey of National Programs for Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel.  For each of the 13 national programs studied, the report catalogued 15 institutional arrangements that had been set in place and 15 technical approaches that had been taken to design repository systems for the long-term management of high-activity radioactive waste.

Presentation at the U. S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) meeting held in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on August 29 and 30, 2023.

Presented at the U. S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) meeting held in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on August 29 and 30, 2023.

Presentation at the U. S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) meeting held in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on August 29 and 30, 2023.

Engaging local stakeholders through transparent and open dialogue is pivotal for the success of nuclear projects. Engagement requires time, trust-building and adaptability as expectations evolve. In many places, communities that initially expressed scepticism or opposition have become advocates because of this engagement and better understanding of what it means to host a nuclear facility.

Presentation slides on the Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Reference Design Concept, including site plans; handling, inspection and repackaging concepts and facilities; and cost and staffing estimates. 

Consent-based siting is an approach that seeks communities’ willing and informed consent to accept new development or host a project in their area. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is using a consent-based siting process to identify one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, a byproduct of nuclear power generation. Spent nuclear fuel is currently stored at more than 70 sites across the country in communities that did not agree to host the material long term.

The U.S. Department of Energy is pursuing one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities to store the nation's commercial spent nuclear fuel in the near-term using a multistage consent-based approach that puts communities' interest at the forefront.

What is Consent-Based Siting?

Consent-based siting is an approach that seeks the willing and informed consent of people and communities to host a project in their area. This process is designed to be flexible, adaptive, and responsive to community concerns.

How is DOE using Consent-Based Siting? How can people and communities participate?

This document summarizes comments received on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Draft Consent-Based Siting Process for Consolidated Storage and Disposal Facilities for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (referred to throughout this document as the Draft Consent-Based Siting Process). DOE published a request for public comment on the Draft Consent-Based Siting Process in the Federal Register on January 13, 2017 (82 FR 4333).

Nuclear energy is essential to tackling climate change. Maintaining the nation’s current fleet and deploying advanced reactors is crucial in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s ambitious goals of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of the decade, 100% clean electricity by 2035, and a net-zero economy by 2050.

However, to meet those goals, progress needs to be made in the management of spent nuclear fuel. Inaction on this issue has already cost taxpayers more than $9 billion in settlements and judgments.

Making progress on the long-term management of spent nuclear fuel can be fraught with political and economic challenges, but groups within the U.S. are looking to try and tackle the challenge from many different angles. As the government ramps up efforts to support spent nuclear fuel management up to the limits of the law, ANS and others are making recommendations around, and receiving funding oriented to, pathways for progress.

Can anthropologists help the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) design a more environmentally just, participatory, and consent-based siting process for spent nuclear fuel management facilities? The DOE has committed to a consent-based approach to siting spent nuclear fuel management facilities that aims to enable broad community participation and center equity and environmental justice.

Dr. Kathryn Huff, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy, explains consent-based siting process and the recently distributed request for information.

The successful siting of nuclear waste management facilities, through a consent-based process, is predicated on a robust and transparent dialogue between the Department and its stakeholders. From December 23, 2015 through July 31, 2016, DOE solicited and received public comments and heard input from a wide range of individuals, communities, states, Tribes, and stakeholders through the multiple avenues described above.

The Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste is a framework for moving toward a sustainable program to deploy an integrated system capable of transporting, storing, and disposing of used nuclear fuel1 and high-level radioactive waste from civilian nuclear power generation, defense, national security and other activities. The Strategy addresses several important needs.