A Regional Approach to HLW,Spent Fuel, and TRU Waste Disposal in New Mexico

摘要

In the late 1950s, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the predecessor agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, requested that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) determine the best solution for the long-term disposal of radioactive waste. The need for a national radioactive waste disposal program grew out of the NAS's deliberations, resulting in a recommendation of deep geologic disposal.1 Although the NAS did not indicate a-preference for a single national disposal site or several regional sites, its recommendation led to the U.S. government's extensive investigative efforts over the next 20-plus years to identify and site one or more deep geologic repositories for radioactive waste.