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Representing future generations in public participation procedures regarding the siting of a nuclear waste repository
Representing future generations in public participation procedures regarding the siting of a nuclear waste repository
State decisions regarding a repository for high-level radioactive waste have an extraordinary intergenerational significance. The academic legal discussion has increasingly strengthened the status of future generations in constitutional law. In its recent decision on the German Climate Protection Act, the Federal Constitutional Court equally emphasised that state actors have an obligation to protect future generations. Fundamental rights of future generations thus have an anticipated effect in the present.
The Art of Being Ethical and Responsible: Print Media Debate on Final Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Finland and Sweden
The Art of Being Ethical and Responsible: Print Media Debate on Final Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Finland and Sweden
After decades of preparation, the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel has reached the construction stage in Finland, and the neighboring Sweden is likely to soon follow in the footsteps. These Nordic countries rely on a similar technical concept based on passive safety, advocated as a means of minimizing the burden to future generations. The scholarly literature on the ethics of nuclear waste management has thus far paid little attention to the views of the broader publics on the associated ethical challenges.
Interim Storage, Environmental Justice, and Generational Equity
Interim Storage, Environmental Justice, and Generational Equity
With the termination of the Yucca Mountain project, which was proposed to be our nation’s first repository for the disposal of military and civilian spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, the future of nuclear waste management and disposal in this country became increasingly uncertain. Interim storage has been advocated by many as a temporary solution while a permanent solution is studied for potentially several more decades to come.
Fostering stakeholder involvement across generations - participation after site selection
Fostering stakeholder involvement across generations - participation after site selection
In October 2022, the NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) organised, in collaboration with the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials (ONDRAF/NIRAS), a national workshop in Dessel, Belgium, to explore the topic of stakeholder involvement across generations.
Building on previous work on this topic, participants gathered to discuss how to keep local communities involved in radioactive waste management after site selection, how to engage youth as key stakeholders and which approaches can be used to communicate with stakeholders now and in the future.
Intergenerational justice starts now: Recognizing future generations in nuclear waste management
Intergenerational justice starts now: Recognizing future generations in nuclear waste management
Intergenerational justice is an inherent component of nuclear waste management. By looking at challenges of intergenerational justice at various stages of the repository siting process, the following thesis is discussed: Current generations can anticipate notions of intergenerational justice by applying high procedural standards to enable equitable distribution between generations and thus adequately recognize the needs of future generations. Applying high standards in this context means a constantly critical, reflexive, and open process, without bias or selfishness.
Intergenerational Ethical Issues and Communication Related to High-Level Nuclear Waste Repositories
Intergenerational Ethical Issues and Communication Related to High-Level Nuclear Waste Repositories
Purpose of Review: The nuclear power industry started in the 1950s and has now reached a phase of disposing high-level nuclear waste. Since the 1980s, the United Nations has developed a concept of sustainable development and governments have accordingly made ethical commitments to take responsibility towards future generations. The purpose of this review is to examine ethical dilemmas related to high-level nuclear waste disposal in a long-term perspective including potential access to the waste in the future.
Perceptions of justice influencing community acceptance of spent nuclear fuel disposal. A case study in two Finnish nuclear communities
Perceptions of justice influencing community acceptance of spent nuclear fuel disposal. A case study in two Finnish nuclear communities
Final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from nuclear power plants (NPPs) is an ethical issue with implications within and across generations. We address this issue from the perspective of nuclear communities that host nuclear waste disposal sites. These are primarily the communities that face injustice due to the potential radiological risks. A resident survey (n = 454) was conducted in two Finnish nuclear communities, i.e. Eurajoki and Pyhäjoki, that are being considered as alternative sites for a second repository for SNF.
Developing a Siting Strategy for a Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Facility
Developing a Siting Strategy for a Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Facility
Although different policies for radioactive waste management, including nuclear fuel waste (NFW), have developed in different countries, the basic challenge is the same everywhere: finding a method and a place for isolating the radioactive waste from the biosphere. During the last decade, this issue has moved to a new phase where responsible authorities and companies are now facing the task of implementing waste disposal or management strategies. A number of countries (e.g.
Consent-Based Siting: What Have We Learned?
Consent-Based Siting: What Have We Learned?
The president realized that the nation lacked a clear policy for developing a deep-mined geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. New legislation would be required to chart a more promising path forward. The views of multiple parties had to be taken into account. He decided to create a high-level body to ventilate the issues involved and to make recommendations. He charged the group with holding public meetings and soliciting comments on draft documents to make the deliberations as transparent as possible.
Views and Attitudes toward Nuclear Waste: National Survey Final Report
Views and Attitudes toward Nuclear Waste: National Survey Final Report
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.
Status and Trends in Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management
Status and Trends in Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management
Status and Trends in Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management is a collaborative project between the IAEA, the European Commission and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, with the participation of nuclear industry organization the World Nuclear Association, that aims to consolidate and complement the information gathered from different initiatives around the world.
Disposition of High-Level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Continuing Societal and Technical Challenges
Disposition of High-Level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Continuing Societal and Technical Challenges
There has been, for decades, a worldwide consensus in the nuclear technical community for disposal through geological isolation of high-level waste (HLW), including spent nuclear fuel (SNF). However, none of the national programs established to implement geological disposal has yet succeeded in establishing a geological repository and emplacing HLW in it. The large and growing HLW inventory from civilian and military reactor use over nearly 60 years remains in surface facilities intended only for interim storage.
A Community Handbook on Nuclear Energy
A Community Handbook on Nuclear Energy
This handbook was prepared by Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Nuclear Energy, under Cooperative Agreement DE-NE0000006. It does not represent the views of the Department of Energy, and no official endorsement should be inferred. This handbook is an update to the version originally released in March 2012. The authors are Kara Colton, Allison Doman and Seth Kirshenberg of ECA.
Comments on the Draft Consent-Based Siting Report and ECA Recommendations
Comments on the Draft Consent-Based Siting Report and ECA Recommendations
Comments on behalf of Energy Communities Alliance submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy on Draft Consent-Based Siting Process for Consolidated Storage and Disposal Facilities for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste.
Survey of National Programs for Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: 2022 Update
Survey of National Programs for Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: 2022 Update
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.