World Nuclear Waste Report

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC cordially invites you to the US launch of the WORLD NUCLEAR WASTE REPORT.

Join us for a virtual transatlantic discussion on nuclear waste on Thursday, December 3rd, 2020 at 1:00 pm (EST) with the following speakers:

• Allison Macfarlane, US nuclear policy expert, Professor and Director, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia
• Arne Jungjohann, Energy policy expert, Lead editor of the report

Moderation: Linda Pentz Gunter, Founder of Beyond Nuclear and International Specialist in nuclear issues

Please register for the event here.

Check out the WORLD NUCLEAR WASTE REPORT for free here: https://worldnuclearwastereport.org/

About the report:

The amount of nuclear waste is growing worldwide. But even 70 years after the beginning of the nuclear age, no country in the world has found a real solution for the radiating legacy of nuclear power.The final disposal of nuclear waste poses major challenges to governments worldwide. No country has a final disposal site for nuclear waste in operation yet; Finland is the only country that is currently constructing a permanent repository. Most countries have yet develop and implement a functioning waste management strategy for all kinds of nuclear waste. Governments differ widely on their nuclear waste approaches: in trying to find a final repository, how to classify nuclear waste, which safety standards to require from operators, and how to secure funding for the ever-growing costs to pay for all of this.With reactors across the world approaching the end of their lives, decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear power plants will become increasingly important. This process will produce even more radioactive waste. In absence of final disposal sites, most of the high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel must be stored for many decades, challenging the safety requirements for storage facilities and causing much higher costs than previously estimated.Overall, there is a lack of understanding about how countries around the world are trying to address the complex challenges that nuclear waste poses. The World Nuclear Waste Report aims to change that. This first edition focuses on Europe and presents the latest facts and figures on nuclear waste and its challenges.

Allison M. Macfarlane wrote the country chapter on the United States for this report, and we are honored to have her join as a speaker.

Allison M. Macfarlane currently is Professor and Director at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. Before she was Professor of Science Policy and International Affairs at the George Washington University, Director of the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at the university’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Dr. Macfarlane served as Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission from July 2012 through December 2014. Dr Macfarlane holds a PhD in geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BSc degree in geology from the University of Rochester. She has held fellowships at Radcliffe College, MIT, Stanford, and Harvard Universities. She has been on the faculty at Georgia Tech and George Mason University. From 2010 to 2012 she served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, created by the Obama Administration to develop a national strategy for the nation's high-level nuclear waste.