Summary
Actions during most of this decade concerning where and how to locate a repository for high-level commercial and defence nuclear wastes have been guided by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Issues of repository siting have been controversial, and in December 1987 Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act, which identified Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the nation's first and only site to be characterized for a potential repository. This decision has generated understudied questions regarding the role of science and ethics derived from the mandates of the legislation and use of environmental impact methodology which is predicated upon a positivistic model of science. Because of the importance of choosing an acceptable repository site to protect humans and natural resources for thousands of years into the future, the broadest spectrum of views and in-depth critiques of the role of science in the repository program is required in order that understudied questions can be resolved.
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John Lemons is the Chairperson of the Department of Life Sciences at the University of New England and, the Editor-in-Chief of the journalThe Environmental Professional. He has authored numerous articles on nuclear waste management, pollution, and wilderness management.
Donald Brown is the Director of the Bureau of Hazardous Sites and Superfund Enforcement for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 221 North Second Street, 3rd Floor, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101. He has published numerous papers on the interface between philosophy and science as it relates to public policy making on environmental issues.
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Lemons, J., Brown, D.A. The role of science in the decision to site a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA. Environmentalist 10, 3–24 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02239554
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02239554