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

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6.2.4.4 Conformance with Federal Law and International Agreements
The mined repository and very deep hole concepts could be developed without apparent
conflict with Federal law or international agreements. A conflict may arise for the island
disposal concept depending upon the island location. It would appear appropriate that the
island be a possession of the U.S. Transport of large quantities of waste over interna-
tional waters has the potential of generating adverse response.
Potential conflict of the subseabed disposal with existing law has been examined in
some detail. The dumping of high-level radioactive waste is prohibited by the U.S. Marine
Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, and therefore, would require Congres-
sional action for implementation. The London convention of 1972, a multinational treaty on
ocean disposal, addresses the dumping of contact-handled TRU and non-TRU waste. Dumping of
high-level waste is prohibited; however the treaty's prohibition against dumping arguably
does not extend to controlled emplacement of high-level waste into submarine geologic
formations. EPA interprets the treaty as making subseabed disposal illegal.
Certain aspects of space disposal are addressed by existing treaties. The 1967 "Treaty
on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space
Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies" prohibits waste disposal on the moon but does
not rule out waste disposal in heliocentric orbit. Nations may object to the space disposal
option because the waste would travel over their territory before being propelled from earth
orbit. The 1972 "Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects"
defines the responsibility for objects falling to earth on other countries. Consideration
of such liability would be required.
In summary, the decreasing order of preference emerging from consideration of possible
legal constraints on implementation of the five concepts is: mined repository/very deep
hole; island; space; subseabed.
6.2.4.5 Independence from Future Development of the Nuclear Industry
Of the five concepts under comparison, space disposal appears to be most sensitive to
the future development of the nuclear industry since it is considered that a substantial
nuclear capacity will be required to justify the required investment (Section 6.2.3).
6.2.4.6 Cost of Development and Operation
Preliminary estimates of the cost of construction and operation for the mined reposi-
tory, very deep hole and subseabed concepts appear in Section 6.1. These have been com-
piled and converted to unit costs (mills/kWh) in Table 6.2.7. Cost estimates for the
island mined repository and the space disposal concept were insufficiently complete to per-
mit reduction to a unit basis.
Of the available unit cost estimates, the very deep hole concept appears to be the most
expensive with estimated costs of 3.0 mills per kilowatt-hour (1980 dollars), not a signifi-
cant proportion of typical current new construction power costs (30 to 50 mills/kWh).
Because these cost estimates are very preliminary and because even the most costly option