GAO-21-603 is a federal oversight report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in September 2021. The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that audits federal programs and provides advice to Congress. This report examines the nation’s ongoing failure to develop a permanent solution for spent nuclear fuel (high-level radioactive waste).
The report draws on federal records and interviews with experts, industry representatives, and state and tribal stakeholders to evaluate why the U.S. nuclear waste program has stalled.
This report is not a law or regulation and does not approve any project. Instead, it serves as a formal recommendation to Congress and federal agencies.
- It concludes that the United States is at a legal and policy impasse after the halt of the Yucca Mountain repository, leaving waste stored at dozens of sites nationwide.
- It recommends that Congress amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) to allow a new consent-based siting process for both interim storage and permanent disposal facilities.
- It urges restructuring the Nuclear Waste Fund and directing the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop an integrated national waste management strategy.
- It also recommends that DOE finalize its consent-based siting approach, which would guide future federal actions.
While these recommendations are not binding, they are influential and often shape future legislation and agency policy.
