As the premier professional organization in nuclear science and technology with 10,000 members, ANS advances and expands the public conversation on consolidated nuclear waste management.
ANS will join with Co-PI South Carolina Universities Research and Education Foundation (SCUREF) to work with the DOE and community stakeholders. The project will explore community decision-making practices, expectations for nuclear material management and resource needs to improve the country’s outlook for nuclear waste solutions.
The university partners bring to this work a substantive connection to specific communities: Northern Arizona University, committed to becoming the largest university serving Native Americans; the University of New Mexico, serving Hispanic American and rural communities; the historically black, land-grant South Carolina State University; and the Harlem-based City College of New York.
Our asset-based approach follows the tradition of action research and avoids a top-down decision-making process. It engages stakeholders immediately in efforts to plan, act, observe and reflect on structured milestones. These milestones include: (1) an initial stakeholder mapping process for defining the conditions for appropriate and informed engagements with traditionally underserved communities; (2) identification of partners to nurture informational projects with cooperating organizations while informing further research efforts; (3) identifying stakeholders willing to co-create solutions together; and (4) the sharing of results and tools to iterate and replicate successful consent-based decision-making.
For more information on the American Nuclear Society Consent-Based Siting Consortia click here