ABSTRACT
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act must be viewed as the latest initiative in a continuing effort to deal with the nuclear waste disposal problem. The legislative mandate to bury our nuclear garbage does not mean of course that it will actually get buried on time; few believe that the rigid timetable established by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act can actually be achieved. One of the continuing institutional problems is the complexity of a waste disposal system which will disperse hundreds of trucks a year over the nation’s highways. A comprehensive waste management system will include cooperation among waste generators, private industry, all levels of government, and publics. Health and safety, which is a continuing concern of the public, presents another unresolved problem. The current version of the public hearing, although somewhat more sophisticated than its early shouting matches, is nonetheless at one end of a continuum of actual public input into decision making.
