POLICYFORUM N

uclear power is re-emerging as a major part of the energy portfolios of a wide variety of nations. With over 50 reactors being built around the world today and over 100 more planned to come online in the next decade, many observers are proclaiming a “nuclear renaissance ” ( 1). The success of a nuclear revival is dependent upon addressing a well-known set of chal-lenges, for example, plant safety (even in the light of improved reactor designs), costs and liabilities, terrorism at plants and in transport, weapons proliferation, and the successful sit-ing of the plants themselves ( 2, 3). Particularly challenging is the disposal of high-level nuclear wastes (HLW). More than a quarter-million tons of commercial HLW is in need of disposal worldwide ( 1). Wastes accumulate at all stages of the fuel and weap-ons development cycle: mining, enrichment, fabrication, and reactor operation. The most dangerous of these wastes accumulate at the “back end ” of the fuel cycle, particularly in the form of spent fuel, which, despite reprocess-ing technologies, may remain highly radioac-tive for a million years ( 4). Although disposal of HLW remains one of the most challeng-ing scientifi c and social problems facing all nuclear nations, recent events in the United States, home of 60,000 tons of HLW, make this a particularly important time to high-light often-overlooked social science exper-tise needed to develop strategies for publicly acceptable solutions to the problem. More Waste for a Stalled Waste Program There is disagreement about short-term and mid-term approaches for disposing of HLW, which include hardened on-site or regional storage, but the global scientifi c and policy consensus for long-term disposal is through deep geological sequestration ( 5). In the United States, where a successful waste