A summary of four key areas of discussion with links to related reports and studies are available at the following links:
The following reports and studies are also available from various on-line sources:
Geological Repositories
Effective Arrangements for Waste from New Reactors Do Not Exist
Memorandum from Nuclear Waste Advisory Associates to the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee Inquiry into the Energy National Policy Statements. U.K. 2010
Rock Solid? A Scientific Review of Geological Disposal of High Level Nuclear Waste
Based on a literature review of papers in scientific journals, the present report provides an overview of the status of research and scientific evidence regarding the long-term underground disposal of highly radioactive wastes. U.K. 2010
Resistance to Nuclear Waste Disposal: Credentialed Experts, Public Opposition and their Shared Lines of Critique ,Darrin Durant York University (2007)
Environmental Impact Statement for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's Geological Disposal Concept (1994)
Nuclear Waste
The Hazards of Generation III Reactor Fuel Wastes
Report indicates that newly designed reactors Ontario proposes to build at the Darlington nuclear facility would produce long-lived waste two to 158 times more radioactive than waste from existing reactors in Canada, increasing costs and dangers to health and the environment. Radioactive Waste Management Associates. U.S.A. 2010.
Health
Atomic Radiation is More Harmful to Women
Brief summarizing findings of the National Academy of Science's landmark Biological Effects of Ionization Radiation Report VII. Published by the Nuclear Information Resource Service, October 2011.
Transportation
Risks and Hazards Arising in the Transportation of Irradiated Fuel and Nuclear Fuel Materials in the United Kingdom
The Review identifies potential accidents and malevolent acts that could severely damage a spent fuel transportation flask, thereby enabling the release of radioactivity, in the form of particles and aerosols, and the corresponding health risk imposed on unprotected members of public. Because the rail routes take the spent fuel trains through major urban conurbations (London, Bristol, etc) many thousands of population could be subject to radiation exposure in the aftermath of such an event., Large and Associates. U.K. 2006
Going the Distance? The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States
National Academy of Sciences analysis of the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste in the United States, while simultaneously examining risks and identifying current and future technical and societal concerns for such specialized transportation. U.S.A. 2006
Radiation Exposures From Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Nuclear Waste Transportation to a Geologic Repository or Interim Storage Facility in Nevada
A summary of government technical studies examining aspects of spent nuclear fuel(SNF) and high-level radioactive waste(HLW) transportation which could result in increased radiation exposures to transportation workers, members of the general public, and emergency response personnel.
Probablistic Risk Assessment of Nuclear Waste Transportation
A case study conducted for the State of Nevada by Radioactive Waste Management Associates, Provides an excllent background in the topic area. U.S.A. 1990
General / Overviews
Costs, Risks and Myths of Nuclear Power
Major new international NGO report prepared for Sept 22 UN meeting on nuclear power. Includes chapters by leading experts across the world. September, 2011
Wasting the Future
General fact sheet about nuclear waste produced by EnergyScience.org in Austraila. 2006
Alternatives
Alternatives to Deep Geological Repositories
Extended On-Site Storage, Northwatch, 2017
Improving Spent-Fuel Storage at Nuclear Reactors, Alvaraz, 2012
Hardened On Site Storage, Nuclear Information Resource Services
Robust Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel: A Neglected Issue of Homeland Security, Institute for Resource and Security Studies, January 2003
Alternatives to Nuclear Power
Renewable is Doable
Latest report outlines how Ontario could save money by replacing the retiring Pickering nuclear station with green energy options such as wind power, solar and biogas. August 2010
Major World Wildlife Fund study on how to bring the entire planet to 100% renewables by mid-century; [PDF] includes explanation of why nuclear power is no solution to climate change or world’s energy future. February 2011.
REPORTS
The World Nuclear Waste Report (WNWR) (https://worldnuclearwastereport.org/)is a project by a group of renowned international experts who want to draw more attention to radioactive waste as a significant and growing challenge with no long-term solutions yet available. (2019)
Greenpeace France commissioned experts on nuclear waste to produce the report The Global Crisis in Noclear Waste, which provides an overview of the current status of nuclear waste across the world.(2019)
SKB submitted supplementary information to their application to build a repository for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark after the Land and Environmental Court returned SKB's application after the main hearing. (2019)
Findings from the Swedish Nuclear Safety Authority's reviewof the proposed repository for nuclear fuel waste in Sweden identified numerous technical issues related to the repository’s long-term safety and ability to protect human health and the environment. (2012)
A lecture by the author of Rock Solid: A Scientific Review of Geological Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste,Dr. Helen Wallace, is now available on-line.
The Washington D.C. based Institute for Policy Studies has released a new paper about on-site storage of nuclear fuel waste. Authored by Senior Scholar Robert Alvaraz, "Improving Spent-Fuel Storage at Nuclear Reactors". In Canada, 75% of the fuel waste is in water-filled pools at the reactor station, and 25% is dry storage containers on-site. (2012)
NUCLEAR INDUSTRY PROPOSALS
Adaptive Phased Management, Nuclear Waste Management Organization, 2005
Reports and Studies
Know Nuclear Waste
A public interest information project about nuclear waste burial in Canada.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Nuclear Waste Management in Canada: Critical Issues, Critical Perspectives
Darrin Durant, Genevieve Fuji Johnson 2010
Nuclear Waste Management in Canada provides a critical antidote to the favourable position of government and industry. The contributors build their case by exploring key issues and developments.
Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation's High-Level Nuclear Waste
Allison MacFarlane (Editor), Rodney Ewing (Editor) 2006
Uncertainty Underground is the first effort to review the uncertainties in the analysis of the long-term performance of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. The book provides reliable science-based information to support open debate and inquiry into its safety.
No Immediate Danger:Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth
Dr. Rosalie Bertell
Although it was published 13 years ago, this class remains an essential resource for everyone interested in teaching themselves the facts about, and the true costs of, nuclear technology. Part One "The Problem: Nuclear Radiation and its Biological Effects" is also available on-line for free.
The book examines the state-of-the-art scientific, ethical, and political justifications for siting a current high-level radwaste repository in the 1990s, when the proposed Yucca Mountain (Nevada) facility was being promoted as the world's first permanent repository for high-level, commercial radioactive waste. It argues from a risk-assessment perspective that there are serious doubts about the project and that delay is preferable to error.