This paper was written at the request of USDOE for the personal opinions of its author, John S. Petterson, PhD, not as the Principal Investigator of the Clark County Nuclear Waste Office research program entitled “Socioeconomic Impact Assessment of the Proposed High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain, but as a profession working in on this issue since he led the socioeconomic impact assessment of the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at the Hanford Site for the State of Washington Department of Ecology (1986-1988). The materials contained are his personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect those of the government of Clark County, or the State of Nevada. In fact, many of the ideas were, and continue to be, objectionable to both levels of Nevada government.
This paper focuses on what needs to be done to resolve the growing disparity between public expectations and federal actions with respect to the civilian radioactive waste management program, rather than on the so-called "technical" issues (in spite of fact that I see even these issues as fundamentally sociological). Specifically, this paper outlines actions that could and should be taken by Congress and USDOE to significantly enhance public trust and confidence in, and public acceptance of, the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) program objectives.
