For each step in the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining to waste treatment and disposal, specific issues of public acceptability can be identified and addressed. A primary point that has to be made is the simple fact that nuclear technology is already developed and deployed, and that nuclear waste already exists and will continue to do so into the far future. Therefore, issues of acceptability with regard to the nuclear fuel cycle typically arise when operations are reviewed (e. g. for renewal of an operational or environmental licence), activities are expanded or new activities are planned, or, as we saw before, when safety related incidents or accidents occur.

We will not make a detailed distinction here between the different technical steps in the nuclear fuel cycle, but keep to the three main components: the front end, service period and back end, and focus on how issues of public acceptability are being addressed today.