March 27, 2009

Nuclear Waste Policy Revisited

Co-Sponsored by:
New York University School of Law and New York Law School's Breaking the Logjam Project
and The Environmental Law Institute

Nuclear waste disposal in the United States remains a significant hurdle to exploring nuclear energy as a potential additional fuel source in the United States. Despite 20 years of effort and considerable expense, the Yucca Mountain site remains the source of considerable controversy, and President Obama's budget has called for dramatically reducing funding for the repository. Although people disagree whether nuclear energy is a desirable energy source from an environmental perspective, there is little doubt that nuclear waste disposal remains a thorny issue to solve.

Richard B. Stewart’s paper, U.S. Nuclear Waste Law and Policy: Fixing a Bankrupt System, addressed these issues and provides a framework to revise and update nuclear waste policy. ELI, in conjunction with NYU School of Law and New York Law School’s Breaking the Logjam Project, hosted a luncheon during which Professor Stewart will present his paper. A panel discussion of the paper and its implications for nuclear waste policy followed.

For a copy of Professor Stewart's paper click here.

Speaker:

Richard B. Stewart, New York University School of Law

Respondents:

Charles Powers, moderator, Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation
Steve Kraft, Nuclear Energy Institute
Tom Cochran, Natural Resources Defense Council (invited)