Comparative State Approaches to Developing Disposal Facilitites for Low-level Radioactive Waste

Federal law makes states responsible for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste and gives them wide latitude in how they implement this responsibility. Among many variables that may affect the success of a state's program, the way in which a state chooses to organize the project, and the strategy for selecting a site location are fundamental. Organizational approaches have ranged from those that rely principly upon agencies in the public sector, to those that delegate responsibility to companies in the private sector. Siting approaches range from top-down screening exercises using map overlays to less mechanistic methods that feature iterations of negotiations with local residents and site investigations. This report examines and compares the organizational and siting approaches taken by the eight states that have identified candidate sites. The approaches each state takes are plotted on a matrix that illustrates the range of variation that is possible. Because to date no state has received a license to construct and operate a disposal facility, the report concludes that there are likely to be differences of opinion on which approaches are most successful.