ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how post-consumption radioactive material and corollary waste is managed, using the approved US permanent repository Yucca Mountain Project as an example. Radiation is the output of a natural and spontaneous process. Radioactivity is the term describing how unstable atomic nuclei degrade. The most stringent management controls in the nuclear waste stream relate to high-level radioactive material, but a second general type of post-consumption waste exists. Radioactive waste resembles no ordinary trash. Four issues related to the nature of the material are described here: contamination, toxicity, duration, and criticality. The management of the nuclear industry and weapons complex involves national agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Transportation. Nuclear waste has become a singular impediment to the mid-twentieth century promise of cheap, emission-free electricity to transform the world. The chapter suggests areas for further research in managing long lasting nuclear waste within an unstable geopolitical context.
