This Department of Energy (DOE) webpage describes the Consent-Based Siting Consortia program, a federally funded initiative that supports outreach and engagement related to nuclear waste storage. The program provides grants (typically around $2 million each) to universities, nonprofits, and other organizations to act as regional “hubs” for public discussion and education about storing spent nuclear fuel.
Rather than identifying sites, these consortia are designed to facilitate conversations, share information, and gather feedback from communities, tribes, and local governments across the country about the possibility of hosting interim nuclear waste facilities.
This program is not a law or regulation, and it does not authorize any nuclear waste facility. Instead, it is a federal funding and policy tool used by DOE under its existing authority to manage nuclear waste.
- It establishes a structured process for public engagement and data collection that DOE can later rely on when making siting decisions.
- It funds third-party organizations to conduct outreach, hold meetings, and distribute grants, effectively expanding the federal government’s role in shaping public input.
- It helps build the administrative record and policy justification for DOE’s broader consent-based siting process for interim storage facilities.
