Revisiting America's Nuclear Waste Policy

With the first 100 days of the Obama Administration behind us, the Institute for 21st Century Energy presents
this nuclear waste policy document that recounts the history of the country’s nuclear waste policy, discusses
the mechanics of the issue, and off ers specifi c recommendations to the Obama Administration and the
U.S. Congress.
Two weeks aft er the 2008 presidential election, the Institute released dozens of energy policy recommendations for
the incoming administration and 111th Congress. Ten recommendations focused on committing to and expanding
the use of nuclear energy as well as managing our nation’s nuclear waste, including:
The President and Congress must commit to a permanent solution to our nations’ nuclear waste. As
directed by law, and even while the administration considers alternative policies, the President and
Congress must act expeditiously to ensure that the NRC’s Yucca Mountain licensing process proceeds
and if it is licensed, provide full funding for construction and operation of the repository.
If the President or Congress will not fully commit to this path, they owe it to the American public and
the utilities that have paid fees and interest in excess of $28 billion into the Nuclear Waste Fund, to
pursue a parallel path of centralized interim storage, industrial deployment of advanced recycling
technology, and establish a clear path to siting, licensing, constructing, and operating a permanent
geologic repository to more quickly place the U.S. government in compliance with federal law.