Nuclear-waste policies of the new administration

The highlights of this paper are on the following three areas: the present administration's nuclear waste policies; the Department of Energy's commitment to work with state and local officials in seeking to resolve this national problem; and the state's role. The waste management program has been redirected in two key areas. The first calls for the construction of a test and evaluation facility to demonstrate the capability to package, transport, and dispose of high-level radioactive waste. The second calls for discontinuing plans to store commercial spent fuel at federally owned away-from-reactor facilities. Some of the specifies of this program are: Site investigation activities will focus on three specific locations, which will most likely include the Nevada Test Site and the Hanford site in the state of Washington and the third location in a salt formation to be selected from among those under study. Construction of exploratory shafts at three alternate locations are planned for 1983. Continued national screening of granitic formations in the northeast and other candidates will be continued for the longer-term requirement of a system of regional repositories. The detailed design of the test and evaluation facility are planned to begin in 1985 to allow the beginning of construction of the underground facilities by 1987. Utilities and industry will be allowed to provide necessary facilities and services to manage their spent fuel. The efforts of the utilities to provide additional at-reactor storage represent a safe step in the management of spent fuels. The activities of the Department will be directed toward developing advanced storage technologies, such as dry storage and rod storage