Abstract
For over two decades, states have been obligated under federal law to provide for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste generated commercially in the states. However, since the enactment of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act in 1980 and Amendments Act in 1985, which were designed to encourage the development of regional disposal options for the generation of low-level radioactive waste, states have been unsuccessful at siting new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. As a
result, two facilities have had to bear the burden of most of the nation's low-level radioactive waste disposal: one is the Barnwell Waste Management Facility (Barnwell), located in South Carolina which accepts Class B and Class C radioactive waste; and the other is Enviro Care of Utah, located in Utah which only accepts Class A low-level radioactive waste. However, on July 1, 2008, Barnwell stopped accepting most of the country's Class B and Class C low-level radioactive waste. As of July 1, 2008, low-level radioactive waste generators in California, as well as in 35 other states in the United States, have had no alternative means with which to dispose of Class B and C low-level radioactive waste.
The closure of Barnwell is not the first time a low-level radioactive waste facility closed its doors to waste from other states. In 1979, the states of South Carolina, Nevada, and Washington, strongly objected to being the low-level radioactive waste dumping ground for the nation and threatened to close their low-level radioactive waste facilities. The actions of the three states sparked national concern over the disposal of low-level radioactive waste, and created a focusing event on low-level radioactive waste, forcing Congress to respond.
Similar the events of 1979-1980, the nation is once again facing a low-level radioactive waste disposal shortage. However, unlike the threatened closures of the disposal facilities of 1979-1980, the closure of Barnwell has not caught the attention of policy makers. When I started this project, I expected Barnwell's closure would present another focusing event on low-level radioactive waste, and prompt federal policy makers to address the issues states have failed to address for the last 20 years. However, because of changes in industry practices, waste minimization, and the repeated failures of the states to develop low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities, the demand for permanent disposal solution has decreased and policy makers do not perceive Barnwell's closure as a national crisis.
This thesis discusses the current status of low-level radioactive waste disposal in the United States. I use a political science framework to look at the relationship between the policy issues, political events, and policy outcomes for low-level radioactive waste disposal. In the first chapter, I explain the issue of low-level radioactive waste disposal in the United States. In the second chapter, I explain what low-level radioactive waste is, how it is regulated, and the history of low-level radioactive waste regulatory efforts. In the third chapter, employing Kingdon's model on agenda setting, I discuss how focusing events, political entrepreneurs, and organized policy communities helped to create federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act and Amendment Act, and why, despite years of failure, the law has not been reassessed since. In the fourth chapter I discuss the compact process and explore why states such as California have failed to site low-level radioactive waste disposal sites. In the fifth chapter, I outline various alternative solutions that have been proposed to address the low-level radioactive waste disposal issue and provide some commentary as to whether those solutions are viewed by interested groups as practical, viable solutions to the problems at hand.