Decades of disagreement over the country’s nuclear waste—and marginalized populations’ ingrained distrust of federal officials—raises doubts about the Energy Department’s new pledge to work closely with local communities to find interim storage sites, experts said.
The department, trying to break the gridlock in Washington, is banking on getting buy-in from local communities with a consent-based approach to siting facilities. The Office of Nuclear Energy announced Nov. 30 that it would request public comment on how to set up such a process, which aims get the green light from local communities before developing a site.
But advocates of a more inclusive ...