If you think about it the silence on how to handle Nuclear waste is actual extremely telling. other nations process it down (for those unfamiliar with the process you can keep using the fuel until you get hydrogen, or water. Though it becomes impractical eventually. US Plants only use it once. Now the funny thing about that is that the by product is extremely close to what you'd use to build a Nuclear missle, this is why we don't like bozos like North Korea having Nuclear power plants. Anyway I wouldn't worry about spent fuel in landfills but depending on your politics I mght worry about it being lobbed at the Chinese.
SEC. 635. SAFE DISPOSAL OF GREATER-THAN-CLASS C RADIOACTIVE WASTE.
Subtitle D of title I of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10171) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`SAFE DISPOSAL OF GREATER-THAN-CLASS C RADIOACTIVE WASTE
`SEC. 152. (a) Designation of Responsibility- The Secretary shall designate an Office within the Department to have the responsibility for activities needed to develop a new, or use an existing, facility for safely disposing of all low-level radioactive waste with concentrations of radionuclides that exceed the limits established by the Commission for Class C radioactive waste (referred to in this section as `GTCC waste').
`(b) Comprehensive Plan- The Secretary shall develop a comprehensive plan for permanent disposal of GTCC waste which includes plans for a disposal facility. This plan shall be transmitted to Congress in a series of reports, including the following:
`(1) REPORT ON SHORT-TERM PLAN- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a plan describing the Secretary's operational strategy for continued recovery and storage of GTCC waste until a permanent disposal facility is available.
`(2) UPDATE OF 1987 REPORT-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an update of the Secretary's February 1987 report submitted to Congress that made comprehensive recommendations for the disposal of GTCC waste.
`(B) CONTENTS- The update under this paragraph shall contain--
`(i) a detailed description and identification of the GTCC waste that is to be disposed;
`(ii) a description of current domestic and international programs, both Federal and commercial, for management and disposition of GTCC waste;
`(iii) an identification of the Federal and private options and costs for the safe disposal of GTCC waste;
`(iv) an identification of the options for ensuring that, wherever possible, generators and users of GTCC waste bear all reasonable costs of waste disposal;
`(v) an identification of any new statutory authority required for disposal of GTCC waste; and
`(vi) in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commission, an identification of any new regulatory guidance needed for the disposal of GTCC waste.
`(3) REPORT ON COST AND SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND RECORD OF DECISION- Not later than 180 days after the date of submission of the update required under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing an estimate of the cost and schedule to complete a draft and final environmental impact statement and to issue a record of decision for a permanent disposal facility, utilizing either a new or existing facility, for GTCC waste.'.
Actually, the current Administration inherited the Yucca Mountain effort from any number of previous ones, being that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act was passed in 1982 (Reagan), and the (incorrect) decision not to reprocess so-called "spent" fuel goes back to Jimmy Carter. So GW Bush is the fourth or fifth President to have the "waste" disposal issues set before him. And since it's a government project, it will probably stretch out another couple of Administrations before the first cannister of material gets emplaced. So the "handling" aspects really aren't something unique to the policymakers currently in office.