Paper: The Southeastern New Mexico Radioactive Waste Disposal Pilot Plant

The need for a radioactive waste repository is not predicated upon public acceptance of nuclear power: the need already exists. Wastes from the chemical processes associated with plutonium production have been accumulating within the AEC/ERDA complex since World War II. The nuclear power reactor fuel cycle is plugged with 2000 metric tons of spent fuel awaiting reprocessing, and the backlog is growing rapidly. Clearly, there will be a radioactive waste repository; the only questions to be answered are where and how big it