Blue Ribbon

About the Commission

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (the Commission) was established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, and as directed by the President’s Memorandum for the Secretary of Energy dated January 29, 2010: Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

This charter establishes the Commission under the authority of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  

The purpose of the 15-member Commission is to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new plan. 

The Commission has formed three subcommittees: one focused on Reactor and Fuel Cycle Technology, a second on issues of Transportation and Storage, and a third focused on Disposal.  Membership on subcommittees overlaps to ensure the subcommittees do not operate in isolation from one another. Each subcommittee will also address a series of cross-cutting questions related to governance and institutional arrangements.

Our Value Statement

“ The Secretary of Energy and the President have asked us to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new plan.  That’s what we intend to do.  We are investigating a wide range of issues.  These include reactor and fuel cycle technologies, options for safe transport and storage of nuclear waste, options for waste disposal, and institutional arrangements for the management of used fuel and high-level wastes.  We will also make recommendations regarding the handling of the nuclear waste fund.

 We are operating this commission in an open and inclusive manner.  In conducting our work, we have heard and will continue to hear from a broad and diverse range of interested parties.  We are mindful of the erosion of trust in the federal government’s ability to meet its waste cleanup obligations, and we appreciate the advice and guidance on restoring trust that we have received from our invited speakers and through public comment, both at our meetings and through our web site. 

 We remind all who are interested in our work that this is not a siting commission.  We will not be recommending specific locations for any component of the U.S. nuclear waste management system.  Also, the Commission was not asked to make recommendations regarding the future use of nuclear power in the U.S.  We will of course consider a wide range of possible scenarios for the future of nuclear in the U.S., to ensure that our recommendations can accommodate a full range of possibilities.  We have been charged with submitting a draft report to the Secretary by the end of July 2011, and we intend to meet or beat that deadline."

Lee Hamilton and Brent Scowcroft

Co-Chairmen, Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future