Nuclear technology places special demands on society and both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy for peaceful purposes require a large measure of security and monitoring at the international level. This book focuses on nuclear waste management, which can work in democratic countries only if viewed as legitimate by the population. This book posits the inability of democracies to establish such legitimacy as an explanation for the current absence of public policy decisions that can identify a solution. The problems are such that they can be resolved only if fundamental aspects of the modern notion of legitimacy are set aside.

Nuclear Waste Management Strategies: An International Perspective presents worldwide insights into nuclear waste management strategies from a technical engineering perspective, with consideration for important legal aspects. It provides a one-stop, comprehensive analysis of both historical and up-to-date nuclear waste management strategies, while consulting important legal aspects of decision-making and implementation processes. With case studies from around the world, this book provides a unique understanding of nuclear waste management technologies and methods available, ensuring that researchers and engineering professionals are equipped with the right knowledge to design, build, implement and improve their own waste management strategies. This book will benefit those researching and learning in the nuclear energy sector, especially those specializing in nuclear waste management strategies, as well as technical and legal communities within nuclear and environmental areas. It is also a valuable resource for lawmakers and regulatory bodies concerned with nuclear policy and waste management. - Provides a one-stop location for reference material on nuclear waste management strategies from around the world - Focuses on the associated technical engineering elements of planning for, and implementing, waste management strategies - Includes real-life examples from Europe, North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa

High-level nuclear waste (HLW) is a controversial and risky issue. For the next 100 years, the HLW will be subject to policy decisions and value assessments. Physically safe, technologically stable, and socio-economically sustainable HLW-management will top the agenda. That must be accomplished in a society whose segments are both stable and in a rapid state of flux, under the influence of global as well as national factors, private interests as well as the vagaries of national politics. Among the challenges to be faced is how to codify responsibilities of nuclear industry, governments and international organisations, and any adopted management policy must attain legitimacy at the local, national, regional and global levels. All such considerations raise questions about the practical and theoretical knowledge. This special issue book will address these questions by exploring HLW-management in Canada, France, Germany, India, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Special emphasis will be placed on highlighting national context, current trends and uncertainties, with relevance to a socially sustainable contemporary and future HLW-management.

This book lays a comprehensive foundation for addressing the issue of safety in the lifecycle of nuclear waste. With the focus on the fundamental principles, the book covers key technical approaches to safety in the management of spent nuclear fuel, reprocessed high-level waste, low-level waste, and decommissioning wastes. Behaviors of nuclear waste in natural and engineered systems in relation to safety assessment are also described through the explanation of fundamental processes. For any country involved with the use of nuclear power, nuclear waste management is a topic of grave importance. Although many countries have heavily invested in nuclear waste management, having a successful national program still remains a major challenge. This book offers substantial guidance for those seeking solutions to these problems. As the problem of nuclear waste management is heavily influenced by social factors, the connection between technical and social issues in nuclear waste management is also discussed. The book is a core text for advanced students in nuclear and environmental engineering, and a valuable reference for those working in nuclear engineering and related areas.

The question of what to do with radioactive waste has dogged political administrations of nuclear-powered electricity-producing nations since the inception of the technology in the 1950s. As the issue rises to the forefront of current energy and environmental policy debates, a critical policy analysis of radioactive waste management in the UK provides important insights for the future. Nuclear Waste Politics sets out a detailed historical and social scientific analysis of radioactive waste management and disposal in the UK from the 1950s up to the present day; drawing international comparisons with Sweden, Finland, Canada and the US. A theoretical framework is presented for analysing nuclear politics: blending literatures on technology policy, environmental ethics and the geography and politics of scale. The book proffers a new theory of "ethical incrementalism" and practical policy suggestions to facilitate a fair and efficient siting process for radioactive waste management facilities. The book argues that a move away from centralised, high capital investment national siting towards a regional approach using deep borehole disposal, could resolve many of the problems that the high stakes, inflexible "megaproject" approach has caused across the world. This book is an important resource for academics and researchers in the areas of environmental management, energy policy, and science and technology studies.

Looking at the politics of nuclear waste, this book examines the subject from an international standpoint. Other works by the author Andrew Blowers include "The Limits of Power" and "Something in the Air", and he has been co-editor on books such as "Nuclear Power in Crisis".

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that nuclear power generation facilities produce about 200,000 cubic meters of low and intermediate-level waste each year. Vital medical procedures, industrial processes and basic science research also produce significant quantities of waste. All of this waste must be shielded from the population for extended periods of time. Finding suitable locations for disposal facilities is beset by two main problems: community responses to siting proposals are generally antagonistic and, as a result, governments have tended to be reactive in their policy-making. Decision-making and Radioactive Waste Disposal explores these issues utilizing a linear narrative case study approach that critically examines key stakeholder interactions in order to explain how siting decisions for low level waste disposal are made. Five countries are featured: the US, Australia, Spain, South Korea and Switzerland. This book seeks to establish an understanding of the political, economic, environmental, legal and social dimensions of siting across those countries. This valuable resource fills a gap in the literature and provides recommendations for future disposal facility siting efforts. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental law, justice, management, politics, energy and security policy as well as decision-makers in government and industry.