Managing spent nuclear fuel: What is the purpose?

Paper in proceeding, 1999

Spent nuclear fuel may be considered a resource for further production of electricity or as a source for nuclear weapon production. It may also be seen as a toxic waste that may be misused for radiological terrorism or the production of nuclear explosives.Different assessments of the relative importance of differnt perspectives may lead to very different waste management strategies. Very differnt parspectives may also lead to agreement on early stages of waste management while disagreement will be revealed at later stages.

In order to facilitate a transparent decision making process the purpose of waste management must be made clear. From the defined purpose, the relevance of facts, arguments and counterarguments can be assessed. Havin a clearly defined purpose will also show what needs there are to define the distribution of economic liabilities for possible costs among different actors.

The economic, social and idealogical stake-holders involved in the decision making process are unlikely to reach consensus. However, making the clarifications suggested above will serve the purpose of revealing the rational interests behind what presently is interpreted as real - or imagined - hidden agendas of the actors in the process.