Choosing a New Organization for Management and Disposition of Commercial and Defense High-Level Radioactive Materials

Download or read book Choosing a New Organization for Management and Disposition of Commercial and Defense High-Level Radioactive Materials written by Lynn Etheridge Davis and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the President's decision in January 2010 to withdraw the license application for a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the Secretary of Energy established the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC) to consider alternatives to the nation's current institutional arrangements for management and disposition of used fuel and defense high-level nuclear waste. In February 2012, the BRC issued its final report. Among its recommendations was a call for a new, single purpose organization to be established to replace the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that had been established under the authority of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The BRC suggested that a congressionally chartered federal corporation offers the most promising model, but the commission left open the possibility of alternative concepts to achieve the desired ends. In response to this recommendation, DOE asked the RAND Corporation to examine alternative organizational models for such a new management and disposition organization (MDO). Our study supports the work of DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy and the Management and Disposition Working Group(MDWG) formed to consider implementation options and activities.