Suchergebnisse

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) is generally analyzed from the distinct perspective of any given actor involved in the nuclear waste policymaking process. Yet, these perspectives often rest on totally different models of decisionmaking. This article applies a multiple perspective explanation as developed by Allison (1971) and Linstone (1984) to the NWPA and explains policy outcomes by reference to three models of decisionmaking: rational actor, organizational processes and governmental politics. Commonalities and points of disjointure in the three models are highlighted and prospects for future nuclear waste disposal policy development are assessed using an integrated decisionmaking framework.

We examine the role of environmental assessments in the siting process mandated under the ambitious Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. We analyze the effect of these assessments in both the western and eastern United States using the original documents, critiques of the methodology of the assessments, and public comments on the siting process, including a content analysis of hearings in Wisconsin and Maine. We conclude that the major effect of the assessments on the policy process was to stimulate public and state opposition to the Department of Energy's efforts to implement NWPA, leading to what could be called policy failure and a significant redirection of the act by Congress in late 1987. The paper represents an early report of a more comprehensive and ongoing study of the politics of nuclear waste disposal.

ALTHOUGH NUMEROUS CLAIMS, PRO AND CON, ARE BEING MADE ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF A SWITCH FROM AT LARGE TO DISTRICT ELECTIONS, LIMITED EMPIRICAL DATA EXIST TO CONFIRM OR DENY THESE ASSERTIONS. THIS ARTICLE REPORTS FINDINGS FROM A CASE STUDY OF THIS CHANGE. THE DATA INDICATE THAT REPRESENTATION, THE MOST DISCUSSED AND ANALYZED DIMENSION, IS ONLY ONE ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of figures and tables -- Preface -- Part I the context of public concern with nuclear waste -- 1. Public opinion and nuclear waste Policymaking -- 2. The historical development of public reactions to nuclear power: implications for nuclear waste policy -- 3. Perceived risk, trust, and nuclear waste: lessons from yucca mountain -- Part II public reactions to preliminary sites -- 4. Public testimony in nuclear waste repository hearings: a content analysis -- 5. Sources of public concern about nuclear waste disposal in Texas agricultural communities -- 6. Local attitudes toward siting a high-level nuclear waste repository at Hanford, Washington -- Part III public reactions to the yucca mountain, Nevada site -- 7. Perceived risk and attitudes toward nuclear wastes: national and Nevada perspectives -- 8. The vulnerability of the convention industry to the siting of a high-level nuclear waste repository -- 9. Nevada urban residents' attitudes toward a nuclear waste repository -- 10. Rural community residents' views of nuclear waste repository siting in Nevada -- Part IV summary and policy implications -- 11. Prospects for public acceptance of a high-level nuclear waste repository in the united states: summary and implications -- Index -- Contributors