The development and management of a nuclear waste transportation research center

Summary form only given, as follows. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (amended in 1987) directed the US Department of Energy to study Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for suitability as the nation´s first deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste. The possible transport of these waste products from nuclear reactors and defense facilities to a repository is of vital concern to Nevada residents. In 1988, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, established a transportation research center with the support of the state. The goal was to develop a Nevada-based center for research and policy analysis in order to address nuclear waste transportation issues at the local, tribal, state, regional, and national levels. The author has examined the many complex management issues which have since evolved in the establishment, funding, staffing, and maintenance of this research center. The intricate complexities to center management oversight resulting from adversity between state and federal governments were addressed