Myth-Making, Moral Communities, and Policy Failure in Solving the Radioactive Waste Problem

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Nineteen years after the passage of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (1980) and fifteen years since significant amendments were made to the policy, no state or regional compact has yet opened a new low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facility. While active siting efforts are currently being pursued in several states, this study focuses on the stagnation of the Southwest Compact's siting process at Ward Valley, CA, to illustrate how a social constructionist perspective can clarify our understanding of public and stakeholder reactions. From a series of key informant interviews and an extensive analysis of secondary materials, we describe the formation of ''moral communities'' of opponents and proponents whose position statements have been constructed on antithetical ''high principles.'' We find that these contrapositions are becoming increasingly divergent, resulting in a highly charged technical and emotional battle to win over public and policymaker opinion that leaves little hope of finding a compromise solution acceptable to both sides.