Law Commons^™

Using The Federal Communication Commission’S Tower Construction Notification System As A Model For Siting Nuclear Waste On Native American Land, Casey Zivin

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Since the advent of nuclear power in the United States in the mid-20th century, the federal government has struggled to find a suitable location to store the hazardous waste associated with nuclear power generation. In 1991, in an attempt to solve the problem of storing nuclear waste, the federal government created grant programs which offered funding to states and Native American tribes who volunteered to store nuclear waste on their lands. One tribe in particular, the Skull Valley Goshute of Utah, viewed storing nuclear waste as an opportunity to infuse their reservation with monies. Further, because tribes enjoy sovereign status …