UW Researchers Join DOE Award to Study Consent-Based Siting of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Three University of Wyoming Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources faculty members will collaborate on a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant exploring improved processes for consent-based siting for the storage of spent nuclear fuel.

Weston Eaton, Steve Smutko and Temple Stoellinger will lend their expertise in community engagement, environmental justice and law to a multistate research team that will forward recommendations on the topic. The research is funded by DOE, which awarded a total of $26 million to support the work of 13 teams across the country.

The grant focuses on consolidated interim storage facilities. Currently, 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel are temporarily stored in more than 70 sites across 30 states. DOE is working to consolidate the storage into fewer sites, using a community-engaged process called consent-based siting that prioritizes a community’s willing and informed consent to host such a facility.

“The DOE grant is about learning what a consent-based siting process for storing and managing spent nuclear fuels should and could look like,” says Eaton, a visiting assistant professor. “I am excited to work together with a broad range of local community members to come up with processes that feel fair, equitable, transparent and legitimate.”

Working with the research team, Eaton; Smutko, the Spicer Chair of Collaborative Practice; and Stoellinger, an associate professor in the College of Law and the Haub School, will plan and convene community engagement and, ultimately, co-develop recommendations for consent-based siting processes that account for local knowledge and priorities. The UW team will contribute to a legal and literature review, as well as an environmental justice analysis.

The three Haub School researchers will draw on the school’s interdisciplinary strengths and UW’s Ruckelshaus Institute’s long history of facilitating collaborative solutions to complex natural resource challenges.

The multistate team, led by the Energy Policy Institute based at Boise State University, will focus on western U.S. communities. Other project team researchers are from the National Tribal Energy Association; Arizona State University; Colorado State University; Idaho State University; Montana State University; the University of Idaho; and the University of Michigan.

Nuclear energy accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. energy production and half of the nation’s carbon-free energy. In an April 2023 report, DOE reported that “an effective, integrated system for safely managing, storing and permanently disposing of spent nuclear fuel” is a national priority.

DOE indicates consent-based siting needs to be flexible, iterative and adaptive, and it continues to refine the process based on public input and expert consultation. The guiding values for consent-based siting include protecting public health and safety and the environment; prioritizing environmental justice and social equity; focusing on communities; enabling broad participation; and working to build and sustain public trust and confidence.

DOE says it will apply lessons from this process to other elements of an integrated nuclear waste management system, including permanent storage and transportation infrastructure.

For more information, email Eaton at weaton@uwyo.edu.