NRC disposed to site

Abstract

A committee of the National Research Council (NRC) has found the risk of human exposure to radiation from nuclear waste to be minimal at a proposed underground disposal site. In a report on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southeastern New Mexico, the NRC committee asserted that the danger of radioactive exposure at the site is unlikely to exceed U.S. and international standards for protection from radiation. Unless the site is breached by humans—most likely those drilling for gas or oil—there is no credible or probable chance of the release of the radioactive waste, the committee said.