Management and Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste
Background on the Nuclear Waste Policy Act
The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act established a multi-site evaluation process for selecting 2
permanent disposal sites. The Department of Energy (DOE) was to study 5 potential deep geological
disposal sites, recommend 3 by 1985, and then study 5 more and recommend 3 by 1989, as possible
locations for a second repository.
The Act also included a study on the need for a temporary storage facility, called monitored retrievable
storage (MRS) involving at least 3 different locations. It also allowed a state to veto a facility, but
Congress it could override that state veto.
Due to strong opposition from many states under study for a permanent site or MRS, in 1987 the Act
was amended, identifying Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only site for a permanent repository. The
amendments also provided for an optional MRS, but only with restrictions tying it to the development
of a permanent facility.
Due to strong opposition from Nevada, the Yucca Mountain effort was halted in 2010. Licensing work
was temporarily revived for this site but has ceased again due to lack of funding.
In 2010 the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future was convened by the
Secretary of Energy to review policies and recommend a new national strategy. The Commission's
report, published in 2012, was adopted by the DOE, but its recommendations have not been
implemented.
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