The Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering Department at Illinois will feature a panel discussion of local experts in response to the Blue Ribbon Commission’s call for public input in recommending national solutions for nuclear reactor fuel discharge management.
The Panel Discussion on the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on America’s Nuclear Future will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 4, in 253 Mechanical Engineering Building, 1206 W. Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. Public input is being gathered in preparation for the BRC’s Midwest region meeting October 28 in Minneapolis. Congress is expected to act on the current impasse over nuclear reactor fuel discharge management after it receives the final BRC report in January 2012.
A resolution of the issue is particularly important to the State of Illinois, the largest producer and holder of nuclear fuel discharges in the United States. So far, attempts to induce or force U.S. states that do not have nuclear power plants to take in nuclear reactor fuel discharges from Illinois and other states all have failed.
The BRC draft report has been ambiguous about whether future attempts to site nuclear reactor waste management facilities will be fully voluntary on the part of prospective host states. Unresolved is what Illinois’ options will be if no host state volunteers.
With Law Prof. Lesley M. Wexler moderating, the Oct. 4 panel discussion will feature these topics and experts:
- BRC Draft Report, Public Policy and Legal Issues, with Prof. Clifford E. Singer, NPRE and Political Science, presenting, and Assistant Prof. Kristin Arden Rowell, Law, as discussant.
- Repositories for Nuclear Reactor Fuel Discharges, with Senior Geochemist William R. Roy, NPRE and Illinois State Geological Survey, presenting, and Associate Prof. Stephen P. Altaner, Geology, as discussant.
- Managing Nuclear Reactor Fuel Discharges, with David K. Lartonoix, NPRE graduate student, presenting, and Prof. James F. Stubbins, NPRE Department Head, as discussant.