A seminar with Katlyn Turner, postdoctoral research fellow with the International Security Program and Project on Managing the Atom.

Speaker: Katlyn M. Turner, Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

The state of long-term management of nuclear waste in the United States is at an impasse. While technical options exist for long-term radiological waste isolation, these are irrelevant in the face of the socio-political complications of siting and operating a nuclear waste repository. This lecture will outline and detail 1) the history of nuclear waste management options considered by the United States leading to its decision to pursue a long-term geologic repository for ultimate waste disposal, 2) the process—technical and political—of attempting to site Yucca Mountain as the United States' repository for civilian nuclear waste, and 3) the outlook moving forward for any attempts to site and operate a long-term geologic repositor—Yucca Mountain or otherwise—for nuclear waste in the United States. This lecture will attempt to situate the struggle to effectively manage nuclear waste within the realm of nuclear energy issues, nuclear security, and nuclear non-proliferation issues.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Speaker: Katlyn Turner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

Technologies are emerging that have the potential to change both the outlook of nuclear power as an electricity source and the security paradigms that protect the international community from clandestine uses of nuclear technology to develop weapons. In this seminar, Katlyn Turner will discuss a few developing technologies in the areas of uranium enrichment, process & part manufacturing, and spent fuel reprocessing, and evaluate these technologies for both their 1) potential utility to change inefficiencies, costs, and waste production in the fuel cycle, and 2) the potential nuclear security and proliferation risks these technologies may pose. She will propose the development of a framework for use by the technical and security communities to evaluate these and future technological advancements to the nuclear fuel cycle.