ABSTRACT
A report published by the Board on Radioactive Waste Management of the US National Research Council (NRC, 2001) explored, on an international level, the continuing societal and technical challenges in the disposition of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Among the principal findings were that:
Today’s growing inventory of high-level waste requires attention by national decisionmakers. The feasible options now are monitored storage on or near the earth surface and geological disposition 1 ; geological disposal 2 remains the only long-term solution available. Whether, when and how to move toward geological disposal are societal decisions for each country, and a stepwise process is appropriate for decision-making under technical and social uncertainty. Successful decision-making is open, transparent and broadly participatory
(NRC, 2001, pp2–4).