Identifying stakeholders; politics; overall approachs to the environmental policy-making process; applicable to toxic materials clean-up issues; written for first and third party participants.
The Politics of Nuclear Waste examines the development of nuclear waste management policy. These articles are the result of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies' November 1979 conference on "the social, political and institutional conflicts over permanent siting of radioactive wastes."
The Politics of Nuclear Waste will be of interest to those who seek a better understanding of the issues and politics which shape nuclear waste policy. This work is divided into seven essays with a preface and an epilogue by the editor. The text begins with a foreword by Richard Riley, then Governor of South Carolina and Chair of the State Planning Council on Radioactive Waste Management. Riley discusses his decision to ban disposal in South Carolina of low-level nuclear wastes from the Three Mile Island reactor. Riley suggests that "of highest importance, today, is not only what is to be done [with nuclear waste] but also how we are to decide it is to be done." In his Preface, Colglazier summarizes the various perspectives on radioactive waste disposal into four "stereotypical positions": grassroots environmentalists, Washington pragmatists, friends of nuclear power, and Interagency Review Group (IRG) purists. He then offers an overview of these positions, and a brief history of their activities.
In Chapter One Ted Greenwood explores federal radioactive waste management policy, and the federal agencies responsibly for its oversight. He traces the development of the IRG late in President Carter's administration, from its early forerunner the Atomic Energy Commission. This essay concludes with an analysis of the key issues and potential conflicts facing then President Reagan's administration.
Chapter Two presents a comparative study of waste management policies and programs among the industrialized countries. Author David Deese identifies six basic issues for establishing an effective radioactive waste policy. These include fragmented government power structures and the lack of a national strategic approach, and competition among the various levels of government. Weakened national regulatory bodies and the increasing importance of non-governmental participants further complicate decision making. Finally there is the issue of technological bias in decision making.
Tom Moss analyses the conflicts within the Carter Administration and Congress over nuclear waste issues. He suggests that the introduction of issues which were not of immediate importance undermined the potential consensus among Congress and the IRG. Also, "jurisdictional fixations and hidden agendas prevented Congress from playing a coherent role in formulating a national policy."
Harold Green and Marc Zell focus on federal-state conflicts over nuclear waste management, emphasizing the legal issues. They suggest that state bans and embargoes on radioactive waste are likely unconstitutional, however some meaningful form of participation for the states in waste policy needs to be established.
In Chapter Five Emilio Varanini, then Commissioner of the California Energy Commission, discusses the issues of state consultation and concurrence in federal waste siting decisions. He evaluates processes aimed at promoting shared decision making responsibility via two case studies, and proposes a federal-state mediation process. Varanini concludes that, before federal-state authority can be fruitfully addressed, problems of scientific verification of radioactive waste disposal methods must be resolved.
Dorothy Zinberg compares U.S. and European perspectives on the role of public participation in nuclear waste management. Public participation and sophistication is increasing, and so the role of public education is increasingly important. Such education should also present differences within the scientific community.
Chapter Seven discusses grassroots environmental organizations. Marvin Resnikoff, of the Sierra Club, presents the goal and tactics of such groups, and discusses their distrust of "politically contaminated science." In his Epilogue, Colglazier "attempts to assess the prospects for consensus in the United States on national policies for radioactive waste management."
The Politics of Nuclear Waste discusses the conflicts, issues and parties which shape current nuclear waste management policy. Individual authors offer analyses of the difficulties currently facing policy decision making, and suggestions for more fruitful approaches.
Tanya Glaser