Stakeholders across the country agreed the United States needs to reinvigorate confidence in its ability to dispose of nuclear waste, the Bipartisan Policy Center said in a policy brief released this morning. The brief offers a variety of stakeholder opinions the BPC heard during regional meetings meant to renew a national dialogue on nuclear waste disposal, with a consensus agreeing that Department of Energy delays in disposing of the waste have eroded public confidence. “The history of the U.S. waste management program has seriously eroded trust and confidence in the ability of the federal government—and particularly the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)—to meet its statutory obligation to effectively manage and dispose of nuclear waste,” the brief said, citing areas of general agreement among stakeholders. “An independent agency of some type should be established to assume responsibility for the nuclear waste program; that agency should be insulated from Congress and from political influence and should enjoy continuity of management and access to funding.”
The stakeholder concerns echo similar worries revealed by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. In an effort to remedy the problem, the BRC in 2012 recommended that a separate entity take control of the waste obligations. The Bipartisan Policy Center, through its Nuclear Waste Advisory Council, has spent the better part of the last two years conducting regional meetings and issuing policy briefs on the status of the nation’s nuclear waste management program. This marks the seventh such brief issued in the past three months. The BPC is also hosting an event Tuesday at its Washington, D.C., headquarters to celebrate this seventh and final installment. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) will offer remarks, followed by a discussion by a panel of nuclear waste experts. The event takes place at 10 a.m. at the Bipartisan Policy Center, 1225 Eye St., Suite 1000.