Citation:
Siting Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities: The Public Policy Dilemma, Mary R. English, (New York: Quorum Books, 1992), 267pp.
Siting Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities: The Public Policy Dilemma will be of interest to those who seek an understanding of the intricacies of siting low-level radiation waste facilities. The first chapter examines the history behind the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (LLWPA). Toward this end the author discusses the relatively short history of such waste and the free-market in its disposal between 1960 and 1980. The chapter also considers the issues facing States, such as: exposure standards, disposal technologies, security, retrieval, and volume reduction.
The second chapter examines issues of authority and focuses on the June 1987 meeting of the Midwest Compact. The author discusses conflicts over authority, authority as hierarchy, and the relationship between authority, values and norms. Chapter three focuses on trust and focuses on the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety which, in 1983, was charged with the selection of a site for a low-level waste (LLW) disposal site. The author discusses the various counties who were interested in such a site and subsequently declined. Further, the author discusses technical competence and fiduciary responsibility.
Chapter four discusses risk. The author traces siting activities associated with Chem-Nuclear Systems Inc. in Barnwell County, South Carolina and the subsequent involvement of Allegany County and Cortland County, New York. Also discussed is risk and its management, the social construction of risk, the technological risks, and the role of authorities in all of this. Chapter five considers justice with a focus on North Carolina and the Southeast Compact. The author addresses issues of distributive justice, and considers three appeals to justice: the best site approach, the fair play approach, and the volunteerism/incentives approach. The author briefly examines theories of justice, including: utilitarianism, Rawls's contractarian theory, and Nozick's libertarian theory. Finally, the author discusses ethical and pragmatic drawbacks of the three siting approaches.
Chapter six examines the quest for legitimacy in the siting process. The author examines the inter-relationship between authority, trust, risk and justice. This is followed by an epilogue which offers the enumeration of recent activities since the book was written. The text is appended with the text of the LLWPA. Siting Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities: The Public Policy Dilemma will be useful to those who seek an in depth understanding of both the legal and practical difficulties of hazardous waste facility siting.