Addressing ethical considerations about nuclear fuel waste management

Ethical considerations will be important in making decisions about the long-term management of nuclear fuel waste. Public discussions of nuclear fuel waste management are dominated by questions related to values, fairness, rights and responsibilities. To address public concerns, it is important to demonstrate that ethical responsibilities associated with the current management of the waste are being fulfilled. It is also important to show that our responsibilities to future generations can be met, and that ethical principles will be applied to the implementation of disposal. Canada's nuclear fuel waste disposal concept, as put forward in an Environmental Impact Statement by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), is currently under public review by a Federal Environmental Assessment Panel. Following this review, recommendations will be made about the direction that Canada should take for the long-term management of this waste. This paper discusses the ethical principles that are seen to apply to geological disposal and illustrates how the Canadian approach to nuclear fuel waste management can meet the challenge of fulfilling these responsibilities. The author suggests that our ethical responsibilities require that adaptable technologies to site, design, construct, operate decommission and close disposal facilities should de developed. We cannot, and should not, present future generations from exercising control over what they inherit, nor control whether they modify or even reverse today's decisions if that is what they deem to be the right thing to do. (author)