ABSTRACT
The use of nuclear weapons during WWII led President Eisenhower to call for peaceful uses of the nuclear materials. The resulting legacy of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants is a long-term multigenerational imposing challenge. Chapter 6 not only explains the widespread beneficial uses of nuclear materials but also focuses on the nuclear waste issues. One is the ongoing multigenerational remediation of seven remaining nuclear weapons sites where weapons were built, tested and had already cost over $150 billion for remediation and storage. The second is the management of tons of commercial nuclear waste at over 100 current or former commercial nuclear plants in the United States. The third is how to manage over 30 metric tons of surplus plutonium removed from decommissioned nuclear weapons. The federal government has the overall responsibility for managing these nuclear materials. However, states and local governments have been heavily involved in land use and transportation issues associated with choosing and operating sites, and the international nuclear community and U.S. oversight groups are important in the decision-making processes. The federal government has had to play a bigger role in managing low-level waste than the states had wanted.
