They fear that citizen talk about guardianship will encourage governments and corporations to produce yet more nuclear waste. First, its effect on citizens themselves is to promote a sense of futility. When nothing can be done about a problem, one naturally enough turns away from it. Fatalism sets in. Hopelessness breeds ignorance about both the extent of the danger and what can be done about it.
All initiative is left to the producers, who assume they have free rein to continue.
On the other hand, when citizens feel they have a conceivable role to play in relation to a problem, they are emboldened to look at it. Realism sets in. As we glimpse what it will mean for us and future generations to guard the wastes, we are more likely to stop tolerating their continued production. Citizen reluctance to seek responsible ways of caring for existing waste leaves government and industry free to pursue methods of disposal driven by their own financial and political considerations. It also leads government and industry specialists to believe they are alone in facing the problem realistically.