Science 13 August 2010: Vol. 329. no. 5993, pp. 762 - 763 DOI: 10.1126/science.1193205 Policy Forum Nuclear Waste: Nuclear Waste: Knowledge Waste?

   

Eugene A. Rosa,1,2,* Seth P. Tuler,3 Baruch Fischhoff,4 Thomas Webler,3 Sharon M. Friedman,5 Richard E. Sclove,6 Kristin Shrader-Frechette,7 Mary R. English,8 Roger E. Kasperson,9 Robert L. Goble,9 Thomas M. Leschine,10 William Freudenburg,11 Caron Chess,12 Charles Perrow,13 Kai Erikson,13 James F. Short1

Nuclear 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 challenges, 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 siting of the plants themselves (2, 3).

1 Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.
2 Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
3 Social and Environmental Research Institute, Greenfield, MA 01301, USA.
4 Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
5 Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA.
6 The Loka Institute, Amherst, MA 01002, USA.
7 University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
8 University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
9 Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610, USA.
10 University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
11 University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
12 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
13 Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.

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