The search for an effective international regime for the long-term safety and security of high level radioactive waste: Pangea and beyond

Abstract

This thesis is a study of public policy issues relating to multinational geological repositories for high-level radioactive waste disposal (HLW). Nuclear states have attempted for decades to implement effective radioactive waste policies, though with limited success. The safe disposal of HLW has proven particularly troublesome and, thus far, a solution has eluded all states. A review of radioactive waste policy in the UK, the US and Switzerland reveals some of the underlying themes behind community opposition to repository siting and the reasons for a broader global search. The failure to achieve HLW repositories at a national level has led to much research into the technical, social and political obstacles to site selection, and into international collaboration. In 1999 Pangea Resources International (PRI) concentrated its efforts in securing a multinational HLW repository in the Australian outback, with its two main arguments being economic incentives for Australia and safety and security benefits for a broader range of nation states. The \u27proposal\u27 failed to gain public or political acceptance. An examination of the Pangea multinational project is undertaken to determine why the proponents were unable to adequately make their case for the shared repository\u27s benefits. The study finds that the arguments presented to Australia were rejected because the public perceived the risks from hosting the repository to be much greater than the associated benefits