[en] The low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) federal legislation that was passed during the 1980s was intended to provide an orderly system of LLRW disposal as the country's three waste sites proceeded toward excluding out-of-state generators. The system was based on a regional interstate compact system. As originally envisioned, several contiguous states were to form an association (compact) with one state receiving radwaste from the compact. Everyone is aware of the difficulties that followed as attempts were made to implement these laws and to meet the prescribed milestones to avoid financial penalties. Although the states (compacts) have labored for over 12 yr along this rocky road, no compact has developed and licensed a new disposal site prior to the January 1, 1993 deadline. A recent report by the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University in St. Louis states that open-quotes The current regional interstate compact system for disposal of low-level radioactive waste is fatally flawed on both technical and practical political grounds.close quotes Thus, the system has broken down and the three original LLRW sites closed their gates (with the possible exception of Barnwell) as planned on January 1, 1993. It would appear that the fate of LLRW will be the same as that of high-level waste (HLW); it will be stored at the site of the generator until a solution to the problem is found. For the nonutility generator, storage is an entirely new problem. It must be appreciated that almost all nonutility generators are in the business of research or medical treatment and not in the business of storing LLRW. Thus, storage represents a new turn of events and a new aspect of doing business. It also means the diversion of limited resources to a problem that should not exist. Lastly, on-site LLRW storage for the nonutility generator will also require additional regulatory approval for the handling, storage, and ongoing monitoring of this waste