Since the first creation of nuclear waste in the 20th Century, the United States has yet to figure out a solution with what to do with this highly radioactive material. A better solution, according to Kamps and Burnam, is to pass legislation at the federal level relating to hardened onsite storage, a concept first described by Dr. Gordon Thompson of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in 2003.
The United States Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) released a list of six guiding factors when it comes to the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste plan, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanent, deep geological repository. Unfortunately, these same recommendations by the NWTRB were given to the government a decade ago and never implemented. The recommendations also mostly address the political aspect of the nuclear waste problem in America, not the scientific side of things.
Yucca Mountain was halted in 2009 under the Obama administration due to environmental and financial concerns. The halt of that project has led to the current interim storage projects initiated by Interim Storage Partners and Holtec International.
