Disposal Subcommittee Report to the Full Commission

The Disposal Subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) addressed a wide-ranging set of issues, all bearing directly on the central question: “How can the United States go about establishing one or more disposal sites for high-level nuclear wastes in a manner and within a timeframe that is technically, socially, economically, and politically acceptable?”
To answer this core question and to develop specific recommendations and options for consideration by the full Commission, the Subcommittee and individual Commissioners held multiple meetings and deliberative sessions; visited Finland, France, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and the UK to learn first-hand about their disposal programs; and heard testimony from numerous experts and stakeholders both here and abroad. The Subcommittee also benefited from commissioned papers on several related topics; these papers may be found on the Commission web site at www.brc.gov. All of these inputs, along with written comments received on the June 2011 draft of this report and comments and feedback on the full Commission’s draft report to the Secretary of Energy (issued on July 29, 2011), have helped to inform the conclusions and recommendations that are summarized below and detailed at greater length in our full report.