A new report, commissioned by Deep Isolation, found that a growing number of Americans believe that finding a permanent disposal solution for high-level radioactive waste is a national priority.
The United States’ lack of a permanent waste repository has been a looming problem for decades. According to the 25-page report, 81% of the people surveyed said that finding a permanent disposal solution for high-level radioactive waste.
This growing push for a long-term solution for disposal is supplemented by the concern of the country lacking one, as the survey found that 69% of the participants expressed concern about the U.S. not having a permanent solution for waste disposal.
The U.S. has over 90,000 metric tons of waste that are stored throughout the country at nuclear power plants. While this methodology has been conducted for a while, many of the participants of the survey did not agree with the continuation of storage of nuclear waste at power plants. According to the survey, only 28% supported storing waste at reactor sites for many decades.
Deep Isolation, a Berkeley, Calif.-based nuclear waste disposal technology company, conducted the report through YouGov, an international research and data analytics firm, between April 3 and April 8, surveying around 1,000 people.
The Department of Energy was designated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 to find a geological repository for permanent disposal. The NWPA 1987 amendments made Yucca Mountain in Nevada the exclusive site for a deep geological repository. However, the Yucca project was canceled during the Barack Obama administration.
Recent administrations have sought to figure out the permanent waste issue that has been left unanswered for years. The Joe Biden administration unveiled the consent-based siting initiative to begin conversations with states and stakeholders on potentially hosting nuclear waste.
This year, President Donald Trump’s administration issued a solicitation for DOE’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, which is an initiative that gauges states interest in hosting spent fuel disposal facilities and other facilities. The solicitation garnered 28 states’ interest in April and by late July, DOE announced that five states were selected for a shortlist to host an innovation campus.
Additionally, the Trump White House came out with a draft policy for legislation to remove Yucca as the sole repository site.