Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980, United States
Published: December 12, 2008, 9:01 pm
Updated: December 12, 2008, 9:01 pm
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor:
Cutler J. Cleveland
Drums of low level nuclear waste being prepared for storage.
Due to pressure from the state governments of Washington, South Carolina, and Nevada – which were, until 1980, accepting all of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste – US Congress passed the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act to ease the burden being placed on these states. The Act gave each US state the responsibility of developing a method of disposing of their own waste by 1986, leaving it to the state’s discretion whether such methods consisted of establishing a site within their own territory or joining an interstate compact.
By 1985, Congress found the 1986 deadline unattainable as Washington, South Carolina, and Nevada continued to accept all of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste. Thus, Congress passed an amendment extending the deadline to 1993 at which point the three states had the right to refuse incoming low-level radioactive waste not produced within their borders. The amendment also set a series of penalties for states that failed to attain a set level of progress in their development of waste disposal methods. By 1993, Nevada had completely closed its waste disposal site, Washington was only accepting waste from the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Compacts, and by 1994, South Carolina was accepting waste soley from the Southeast Compact. The Act also applied to low-level radioactive waste produced by the federal government, making agencies under federal authority responsible for the disposal of their own waste.
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Ida Kubiszewski PhD (Lead Author);Cutler J. Cleveland (Topic Editor) "Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980, United States". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth December 12, 2008; Last revised Date December 12, 2008; Retrieved May 25, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Low-Level_Radioactive_Waste_Policy_Act_of_1980,_United_States>
The Author
Stewardship Committee
The Encyclopedia of Earth
Dr. Ida Kubiszewski is a Senior Lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy at Australian National University. She is also a co-founder and former-Managing Editor the Encyclopedia of Earth. Dr. Kubiszewki is currently working as the Managing Editor for a magazine/journal hybrid called Solutions. Solutions is an outlet for discussions focusing on solutions to the complex problems we are now facing in ... (Full Bio)
Drums of low level nuclear waste being prepared for storage.
Due to pressure from the state governments of Washington, South Carolina, and Nevada – which were, until 1980, accepting all of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste – US Congress passed the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act to ease the burden being placed on these states. The Act gave each US state the responsibility of developing a method of disposing of their own waste by 1986, leaving it to the state’s discretion whether such methods consisted of establishing a site within their own territory or joining an interstate compact.
By 1985, Congress found the 1986 deadline unattainable as Washington, South Carolina, and Nevada continued to accept all of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste. Thus, Congress passed an amendment extending the deadline to 1993 at which point the three states had the right to refuse incoming low-level radioactive waste not produced within their borders. The amendment also set a series of penalties for states that failed to attain a set level of progress in their development of waste disposal methods. By 1993, Nevada had completely closed its waste disposal site, Washington was only accepting waste from the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Compacts, and by 1994, South Carolina was accepting waste soley from the Southeast Compact. The Act also applied to low-level radioactive waste produced by the federal government, making agencies under federal authority responsible for the disposal of their own waste.
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