Nuclear Waste Facility Siting and Local Opposition

On the historic evidence, but also for the distinctive qualities of the challenge, nuclear waste siting conflicts are assuredly among the most refractory in the large variety of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) facility siting disputes. Since the president brought the Yucca Mountain process to a halt in 2010 (or, more accurately, issued its death certificate), the search for a permanent waste fuel repository is at the starting line again. However, over the years since that search began the first time, much has been learned about the NIMBY phenomenon and its political and administrative management, both from experience in the US and abroad and through continued scholarship in the academic community. The present essay collects the most important findings from this research and some implications from history, and offers recommendations for a framework in which to resolve the nuclear waste disposal challenge.
The focus here is on policy looking forward, not post-mortem dissection of the convoluted past efforts, and not on disposal (or transport) technology. Except to the degree that responsibly characterized sites with carefully engineered placement and packaging differ in their appearance to members of the public, I will not advance the debate over technical choices or geological options.