Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

3.45
the repository. Some feel that those near the repository may not even benefit from the
nuclear power which produced the waste. Another position stresses that people indirectly
benefit from nuclear power because they buy products made with electricity from nuclear
power and, therefore, such equity issues are less valid.
The Department of Energy is considering the feasibility of regional repositories,
(i.e., repositories which serve the needs of the surrounding region) partly in response to
concerns about equity (see discussion in Section 5.3). Under various scenarios there will
be a need for more than one repository for a nuclear economy of 250 GWe by year 2000 (e.g.,
Case 3 in Section 3.2).
Concern about safeguards is a sixth issue. This concern hinges largely, though not
exclusively, on the fact that plutonium, produced in the process of nuclear power produc-
tion, is used in nuclear weaponry. Commercial fuel cycles which separate plutonium or other
material with potential use in weapons raise the concern that they might be used for clan-
destine weapons development. Accounting for such material has been seen by some as inade-
quate. Some also worry that security against nuclear threats can only be achieved by
intolerable infringements on personal freedom, while others feel that this is not the case.
There is also a large difference in the perception of how difficult it is to build a bomb,
ranging from the belief that one only needs access to a public library to a belief that it
is a highly risky and technically challenging task requiring a sophisticated manufacturing
capability.
The Department of Energy has an active research program for developing and improving
safeguard and physical security methods that deal with transportation, storage and handling
of radioactive materials. The NRC has promulgated and enforced safeguards and physical pro-
tection regulations for special nuclear materials such as plutonium (10 CFR 73).
Alternatives to nuclear power form a seventh issue area; that is, how one perceives
conservation and other energy production alternatives affects perceptions of nuclear waste.
The belief that cheaper, safer, less-polluting alternatives to nuclear power are available
would incline the holder of that belief to oppose the production of nuclear wastes. Some,
however, feel that nuclear power is superior to currently available technologies and there-
fore are willing to accept the radioactive waste problem. Even if no further nuclear weap-
ons production or power generation occurred, an inventory of wastes from past activities
would need to be stored or disposed.
In its Statement of Position at the "Waste Confidence" Rulemaking, the Department of
Energy proposed in Objective 7 that disposal concepts selected for implementation should be
independent of the size of the nuclear industry (DOE/NE-0007). This is in accord with the
President's statement of February 12, 1980, which requires that waste disposal efforts pro-
ceed regardless of future developments in the nuclear industry. This EIS examines 5 cases
of nuclear development ranging from termination of nuclear power in 1980 to full development
to properly assess nuclear waste management systems (see Chapter 7).