The creation of up to five nuclear lifecycle innovation campuses in the US intended in part to store nuclear waste could provide a solution to the country’s decades-old nuclear waste repository problem, but work remains to fix a now obsolete Nuclear Waste Policy Act, a nuclear legal expert has said.

According to Tom Dougherty, partner and head of the nuclear energy practice at legal firm Womble Bond Dickinson, which has offices in the US and the UK, the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent selection of the five states marked a potential turning point in efforts to find a solution for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.