Because of differing views on these factors, a Federal law gives States the authority to make decisions on compact memberships and gives compact regions the authority to make arrangements with other compact regions to share disposal facilities. While nuclear power plants generate a significant percentage of commercial low-level radioactive waste in the United States, many other important activities produce the remainder, such as university research, medical technology, industrial research and manufacturing, and U.S. Government activities. It would be very expensive to send low-level radioactive waste into space because each rocket payload could only take a small volume of waste. Some radioactive waste can be made nonradioactive by various physical and chemical techniques that remove the radioactive component from the materials. However, the radioactive atoms removed from the materials remain radioactive until they become stable atoms through the natural process of radioactive decay.
Nothing can affect the radioactive decay process.
Chemical reactions, magnetic fields, pressure, or temperature have no affect on either speeding up or slowing down the decay rate of radioactive atoms. Consequently, radioactive materials are processed and packaged into the most reliable forms possible before disposal in order to protect the public from their radioactive properties. In selecting a site location, States, at a minimum, must adhere to specific regulations issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's primary goal in requiring that these regulations be met is to protect the public health and safety and minimize any long-term burden on society. Additionally, some States may establish siting requirements that are specific to the individual State's particular needs and circumstances and that the State considers important in evaluating potential disposal sites.