Mothers for Nuclear Informational Flyer

Understanding DOE’s Critical Decision Process: Progress Toward a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel

The critical decision (CD) process is used by the Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Department’s large-scale, long-term projects, also known as capital projects. CD-0 was recently approved for DOE’s Consolidated Interim Storage Facility project. Learn more about this milestone.

What is Consent-Based Siting?

Consent-based siting is an approach to siting facilities that prioritizes the participation and needs of people and communities and seeks their willing and informed consent to accept a project in their community. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is using a consent-based siting approach to identify one or more sites for federal consolidated interim storage facilities for commercial spent nuclear fuel.

Nuclear waste management seems to exist in a perpetual state of crises. For 50 years the nuclear states of the world have fought, and generally lost, the battle to deal with the nuclear waste problem. Worldwide, there is a growing acknowledgement within industry and government that social and ethical issues are just as important as technical issues when developing safe programs for nuclear waste management. This paper is a review of some of the outstanding social and ethical issues that are influencing discussions on nuclear waste management around the world.