Letter to The Honorable Nancy L. Kassebaum from J. Dexter Peach, Director, U.S. General Accounting Office

The National Plan for Siting High-Level Radioactive Waste Repositories describes the process the Department of Energy (DOE) is using to find sites suitable for disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

The 1976 Parliamentary election in Sweden resulted in a coalition government which imposed extremely stringent requirements for the waste produced by Swedish nuclear power plants. The industry responded with a crash study, the Nuclear Fuel Safety (KBS) project, with experts drawn from hundreds of universities and related scientific institutions. A year later, the industry presented “a complete scheme for absolutely safe storage of nuclear waste” in engineered facilities located at about 500 m depth in the Swedish granite bedrock (KBS-I).

The generation of knowledge regarding public risk perception general, and perception of risks associated with nuclear power and radioactive waste management in particular, requires the development and use of appropriate survey methodologies. One of the fundamental limitations of many studies of public risk perception is the assumption on the part of the investigators of similarity between themselves and their respondents. In such studies respondents are required to deal with problems of interest to and structured by the investigators.

Survey research on nuclear power issues conducted in the late 1970s has determined that nuclear waste management is now considered to be one of the most important nuclear power issues both by the U.S. public and by key leadership groups. The purpose of this research was to determine the importance placed on specific issues associated with high-level waste disposal. In addition, policy option choices were asked regarding the siting of both low-level and high-level nuclear waste repositories.

This report focuses on public meetings as a vehicle for public participation in nuclear waste management. The nature of public meetings is reviewed and the functions served by meetings highlighted. The range of participants and their concerns are addressed, including a review of the participants from past nuclear waste management meetings. A sound understanding of the expected participants allows DOE to tailor elements of the meeting, such as notification, format, and agenda to accommodate the attendees.

Results of the evaluation of data from area studies in salt domes of the interior basins of the Gulf Coast region are presented, along with background information about salt domes, the site qualification process, and data collection and analysis methods; discussions of the geologic and environmental data obtained for the eight salt domes under investigation during area studies; and analysis of the data according to preestablished criteria.

Results of the evaluation of data from area studies in salt domes of the interior basins of the Gulf Coast region are presented, along with background information about salt domes, the site qualification process, and data collection and analysis methods;

The research reported here was initiated in January 1980 and performed for the Office of Policy and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Energy. The study arises from recognition by the DOE that the resolution of institutional issues is vital to the establishment of facilities to dispose of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The disposal of HLW is an intensely difficult public policy problem.