Passed in 1982, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) was an effort to establish an explicit statutory basis for the Dept. of Energy (DoE) to dispose of the nation's most highly radioactive nuclear waste. The NWPA requires DoE to remove spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and transport it to a permanent geologic repository. In 1987, Congress designated Yucca Mountain, NV (YM), as the repository. Contents of this report: Intro.; Establishing a Permanent Geologic Repository for High-Level Nuclear Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel; YM and the Obama Admin.; Blue Ribbon Comm. on America's Nuclear Future; Withdrawal of the YM Construction License; NRC Halts YM License Review; The Future of YM. A print on demand report.

This book challenges the role of scientists in policy making and the idea of deliberative democracy. The author argues that awareness must increase among both politicians and the citizens who elect them. We must revitalise the decision-making processes in representative democracy. The book proposes new institutional structures.