Intergovernmental Complexity in Nuclear Waste Disposal Policy: The Indeterminate Role of Local Government |
| |
| Authors: | Eric B. Herzik Alvin H. Mushkatel |
| |
| Affiliation: | Eric B. Herzik is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has published widely on topics of intergovernmental relations, state government and public policy. His most recent book is Gubernatorial Leadership and State Policy.;Alvin H. Muskatel is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Director of the Office of Hazards Studies at Arizona State University. He has published widely on a variety of risk management issues and was recently named to a research committee of the National Academy of Sciences. |
| |
| Abstract: | Local governments play a critical, albeit often overlooked, role in nuclear waste disposal policymaking. The centrality of local governments in the policymaking process rests on the simple fact that impacts will be borne disproportionately by local jurisdictions hosting and immediately adjacent to waste disposal sites. This article focuses on the capacity of local jurisdictions in Southern and rural Nevada to absorb and support an undertaking as large and technically complex as the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository. The article also examines the perceptions of local government officials concerning a number of management and policy issues related to the construction and operation of the proposed waste repository. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
