Moral Implications of Nuclear Waste
As we progress further into the nuclear age, the usage of nuclear materials is exponentially increasing. As the application and usage of nuclear weapons increases, so does the amount of nuclear waste that must be stored and properly disposed of. Many status quo policies regarding nuclear waste storage and disposal directly involve the usage of tribal lands that are owned by Indian Americans throughout the United States.
Private entities and governing bodies have approached various Indian tribes, including
Apaches, Cherokees, and Navajos, about radioactive storage on their ancestral lands. To date, the federal government has reached out to a total of 82 different native groups regarding nuclear waste facilities, indirectly outlining the urge of the government to have these facilities located on native lands. These politically disempowered groups are essentially coerced into accepting these offers due to harsh government policies towards them. These individuals ought to have equal rights as all other individuals in determining whether or not these nuclear facilities should be located on their territorial lands. This moral right and privilege is granted to all American citizens and should, from a moral and ethical perspective, be extended to Native American tribes as well.
The dehumanization of the native tribes can be seen indirectly through the actions of the federal government and multiple private corporations. Agencies in the United States federal government, such as the Office of Nuclear Waste and the Department of Energy, offer native tribes millions of dollars to host these nuclear waste repositories despite their knowledge of the side effects associated with these facilities. Furthermore, such federal actions only worsen the overall impact of the situation by incentivizing private corporations, such as Global Telesis Corporation and Chambers Development

Incorporated, to participate in such actions as well. The urgency of these agencies to find hosts for these repositories is seen as a sense of desperation through the fact that a total of
82 different tribes and groups of indigenous people have been approached in the past one year. The inequality seen through the placement of these nuclear facilities evidences a clear violation of human rights and ethical standards. The placement of these facilities in these locations has caused a literal genocide upon the native people, resulting in the extermination of various groups, along with the everlasting emotional scars placed upon the lives of these groups. Furthermore, a clear lack of humanity is evident in these actions. Ethically, alternative methods of radioactive waste storage and disposal should have been determined in order to avoid harm to these disillusioned individuals. Nuclear meltdowns, power plant failure, and storage leaks only worsen the harms upon these native peoples, illustrating the lack of moral rights granted to these people. This inequality mandates an alteration of status quo policies due to the harm these status quo policies has inflicted upon indigenous peoples.
The lack of ethical and moral standards is also reinforced due to the lack of focus on these issues by the federal government. The impact of these disposal and storage facilities on Indian lands is evident through the suffering and depleted conditions through which the indigenous peoples live, yet the federal government fails to take any action to 1) prevent these impacts, 2) assist the indigenous peoples with adjusting to living with these facilities, and 3) provide preventative measures and health assistance to the individuals to assure that they are not affected by potential accidents and radiation exposure. This ignorance only reinforces a call for action in preventing this genocide and improving the living conditions of native tribes that are subject to the impacts of radiation exposure,

nuclear accidents, and various other harmful effects associated with the presence of nuclear materials and facilities in the vicinity.
Potential solutions to this infringement of moral rights are founded through a simple correction of these ethically unacceptable actions. By extending basic property rights to
Native Americans and individuals living on tribal lands, more balanced and equal policies regarding nuclear waste disposal can be exercised and adopted. Engaging in discourse with these tribes and informing them of the potential harms of nuclear waste disposal and radioactive exposure is a solution that can be implemented in the status quo as means of assuring that the disadvantaged individuals are in compliance with our nuclear waste policies. Future goals can be directed towards transitioning away from policies of eminent domain and implementing more democratic policies pertaining to property rights. This would allow these indigenous peoples to gain equal rights and not be subject to an inherent disadvantage as a result of United States nuclear policy. Simple solutions such as these, though unable to completely resolve the problem, can help us progress towards equality for everyone and prevent the infringement of every individual’s moral rights.