The problem of disposing of radioactive waste has existed for over 50 years now and the country is not much closer to a universally acceptable resolution. Initially there was almost a laissez faire attitude on the part of scientists and the government. More recently the public has become so mistrustful that anything less than a near 100 percent risk free solution might be rejected. The amount of nuclear waste keeps growing, yet no one has suggested that we stop producing the things that create this radioactive waste.
Radioactive waste is the residue from the production of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, radioisotopes, and other products which make use of that type of nuclear reaction (Panati and Hudson, 1981). The early waste was primarily from nuclear weapons, but the waste from nuclear power and other sources has been increasing. As a matter of fact, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants contains more radioactivity than waste from the production of nuclear weapons.
There are three important characteristics of nuclear waste which need to be considered. These are radioactivity level, volume, and longevity. According to Wheelwright (1995), the most important measure for consideration of nuclear waste disposal is the radioactivity level. Even if there is a high volume of waste with a long lifetime, he contended, this is less problematic than radioactive waste with a high level of radioactivity.
At this point in history, the federal government is ultimately responsible for nuclear waste. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 placed the responsibility for the disposal of high level waste in the hands of the Department of Energy. However, the DOE has still not been able to develop an acceptable plan for disposing of that radioactive waste. Most recently, it has had to be forced by the courts to accept the high level radioactive waste from nuclear utilities and fulfill its mandate for storage and appropriate managem...