Unsafe at any depth
geological methods, subjective judgments, and nuclear waste disposal
pp. 501-524
in: Carol C. Gould, Robert S. Cohen (eds), Artifacts, representations and social practice, Berlin, Springer, 1994Abstract
In one of the most ambitious technological programs ever undertaken, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is now developing plans to construct the world";s first permanent facility for high-level commercial radioactive waste. Planned for a site in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the facility is supposed to keep the waste isolated from the biosphere for more than 10,000 years. As of 1991, the DOE has spent more than $3 billion on assessments of site suitability. Apart from the scientific and technical questions raised by the proposal to build such a facility, the Yucca Mountain repository raises a whole host of ethical and policy questions, for example: Is it fair for present persons to impose the burden of nuclear waste on future generations? Is it equitable for most Americans to receive the benefits of fission-generated electricity while Nevadans bear the risks and costs of nuclear waste? Does the permanent disposal of radioactive waste present unacceptable burdens in terms of potential infringements on civil liberties and on rights to due process? Is it ethical to impose nuclear waste on those who have not consented to the risk and who will have received only minimal benefits from it?