As we enter mid-19Bl, the Reagan administration is completing a review
of U. s. nuclear waste management policy. Major revisions in the
recently announced Carter administration policies are expected. Reagan
is a strong supporter of civilian nuclear power and will probably
encourage spent fuel reprocessing by the private sector. Meanwhile, the
deep geologic disposal of defense nuclear waste in New Mexico moves
ahead. In the coming months, discussion and debate of U. S. radioactive
waste management policies will intensify in the Congress, in the
technical community, and among environ- mentalists and the public at
large. An important element of the debate should be the scientific and
technical issues of the safe disposal of radioactive wastes from both
the civilian nuclear power fuel cycle and the defense fuel cycle,
including naval pro- propulsion programs and nuclear weapons production.
The literature of waste management is voluminous, covering all aspects
of the world-wide problem of safe disposal. The authors of this book
have attempted to cri- tically review this literature, selecting the
more important reports to abstract. Our selection criteria were heavily
influenced by considerations of policy issues and by our experiences in
both the technical community and the regulatory environment. Our intent
is to identify those reports we feel will contribute the most to the
development of a national consensus on the safe disposal of existing and
future nuclear wastes as yet another U. S. waste policy emerges in
Washington.