Separate abstracts were prepared for each of the following sixteen sections in this Proceedings: overview of the National Waste Terminal Storage Program; earth sciences; socioeconomic evaluations; systems; repository design and equipment; package materials, waste form; far-field performance evaluations; repository sealing; regulatory and institutional issues; repository data base, field tests; package design; status of geologic/environmental characterization; issues in repository siting; quality assurance; near-field performance evaluations; repository data base development.

Critical in solving the nuclear waste problem are such issues as the techniques needed to equitably select waste repository sites; the implications for economies, populations, public services, social structures, and future generations in siting areas; the best means for mitigating short- and long-term public and private impact of repositories; and the type of citizen involvement that best ensures the full participation of national, state, and local interest groups in the siting process. The contributors to this book examine these and related issues, offering the perspectives of sociology, economics, philosophy, and political science and representing the differing views of various regions of the nation.