Resolving Past Liabilities for Future Reduction in Green House Gases; Nuclear Energy and the Outstanding Federal Liability of Spent Nuclear Fuel

This thesis will: (1) examine the current state of nuclear power in the U.S.; (2) provide a comparison of nuclear power to both existing alternative/renewable sources of energy as well as fossil fuels; (3) dissect Standard Contracts created pursuant to the National Waste Policy Act (NWPA), Congress' attempt to find a solution for Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), and the designation of Yucca Mountain as a repository; (4) the anticipated failure of Yucca Mountain; (5) explore WIPP as well as attempts to build a facility on Native American land in Utah; (6) examine reprocessing as a solution for SNF used by France and Japan; and, finally, (7) propose a solution to reduce GHG's by developing new nuclear energy plants with financial support from the U.S. government and a solution to build a storage facility for SNF through the sitting of a repository based on a "bottom-up" cooperative federalism approach.

Author

• Donohue, Jay

Language

• en

Keyword

• Standard Contracts
• Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
• Yucca Mountain
• Department of Energy
• Nuclear Energy
• Spent Nuclear Fuel

Date created

• 2010

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Environmental Law

Degree

• LL.M.

Advisor

• Paddock, Lee

Committee Member(s)

• Da Ponte Thornton, Karen

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/3197xm26k