Social and Economic Aspects of Radioactive Waste Disposal Considerations for Institutional Management (1984) / Chapter Skim
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5. Institutional Means
5. Institutional Means
Pages 112-132
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From page 112... ...
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Act of 1980 had earlier outlined institutional arrangements for handling low-level waste. The emergence of these major policies from the Legislative Branch, after extensive debate in three consecutive Congresses, defines a comprehensive national approach to the final disposition of radioactive materials.
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From page 113... ...
The NWPA has been summarized elsewhere (see, e.g., Nuclear Waste News 1982)
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From page 114... ...
Social research on other controversial facilities reinforces the panel's judgment that a major institutional gap exists in the framework defined in the NWPA. There is no institutionalized process for relating the concerns of locally affected populations to the actions of state governors or legislatures; indeed, constitutional principle dictates that state governments be responsive to population centers whose interests are typically different from those of rural areas likely to host repositories.
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From page 115... ...
(It should be noted, however, that radioactive waste repositories pose a national problem, whereas hazardous waste storage facilities address needs found within many states' economies. Analogies between the two kinds of facilities should be drawn with caution.
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From page 116... ...
The Act recognizes the need for imaginative organizational design in its requirement for a Mission Plan in Section 303. The Mission Plan, called for in Section 301, will need to consider organizational ideas developed in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and particularly the crucial role of learning from mistakes.
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From page 117... ...
Required by the NWPA, this study is needed to evaluate institutional possibilites, including a public corporation, for managing the construction and operation of civilian radioactive waste facilities. There is an adequate social scientific base in organizational sociology, industrial economics, business administration, and the study of public enterprise to support this management study.
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From page 118... ...
The administrative discretion exercised by DOE is expanded by explicit exceptions to existing law, in particular the National Environmental Policy Act. On the other hand, states and Indian tribes are accorded substantial authority to participate -- with federal funding -- in the planning process.
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From page 119... ...
State governors and legislatures are given the responsibility to represent local populations, a role that is almost certain to create strains within potential host states. Under these conditions the most important informal process to employ is local public participation and the related design approach of iterative planning.
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From page 120... ...
A final argument is that planners can learn different or new facts and more about community values and hidden effects by involving citizens instead of merely relying on predictive modeling. Neither current methods of observation nor available predictive models of social conditions are sufficient to preempt local involvement.
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From page 121... ...
The panel notes the NWPA's objective that "state and public participation in the planning and development of repositories is essential in order to promote public confidence in safety of disposal of such waste and spent fuel" (Section 111)
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From page 122... ...
This process is particularly subject to public criticism if the research and development programs on which the agency bases its plans are perceived to be inadequate or inappropriate. The record of effective public participation programs suggest, then, the importance of early and broad involvement of the general public, the creation of an independent technical review capability among local citizens, and a role for citizens early and in all subsequent stages of site searching and selection.
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From page 123... ...
The Act does, however, allow the states considerable latitude for citizen involvement: the panel finds that the experience of citizen participation programs, iterative planning, and environmental dispute resolution is applicable to the design of informal processes in the repository siting program. REGULATION OF TRANSPORTATION Chapter 3 emphasized the importance of waste transport in the total radioactive waste management task.
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From page 124... ...
Both shippers and carriers must comply with packaging and other NRC and DOT safety regulations for transporting waste-and spent fuel. To prevent conflicts in their regulations governing the transportation of radioactive materials, NRC and DOT subscribed to a memorandum of understanding (MOW)
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From page 125... ...
After the ruling of the district court, Associated Universities asked DOT whether the New York ban was preempted under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. That Act states that local and state regulation of hazardous materials transportation is preempted if it is "inconsistent" with the Act or regulations thereunder.
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From page 126... ...
It designates the entire interstate highway system as the approved transportation route for "large quantity" packages of radioactive materials. The rule declares "inconsistent" state and local regulations that require prenotification or escort personnel or escort requirements, deferring consideration of promulgating a national prenotification rule pending an outcome of NRC's rulemaking on this topic.
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From page 127... ...
The current regulatory framework for radioactive waste and spent fuel can be analogized to air traffic control, where air freight customers, not air traffic controllers, have been mace primarily responsive e for the safe air transport of hazardous materials. As "traffic" increases, such a situation will not likely be allowed to continue.
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From page 128... ...
FINDINGS As a result of its analyses, the panel found that 1. A major institutional gap exists in the framework defined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
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From page 129... ...
early and broad public involvement in both site searching and site selection, within the context of technical criteria; (c) the development of an independent technical review capability, similar to that created using DOE funds by the State of New Mexico for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, among citizens of the communities hosting the repositories or those exposed to extraordinary waste transportation flow at major points along the waste funnel; (d)
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From page 130... ...
1983. Locus, equity, ano tne West Valley nuclear wastes.
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From page 131... ...
1982. Summary of nuclear waste policy act of 1982.
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