One of the critical factors that must be considered in the decision-making process required in solving the radioactive waste management problem is the issue of costs. The accumulation of both government- and commercially generated wastes is estimated at some 200 million gal of high-level waste, 400 million ft3 of low-level waste, and 85 million ft3 of alpha wastes by the year 2000. Cost projections are made for high-level waste management (exclusive of ultimate disposal), for low-level waste burial, and for alpha waste burial. These cost estimates indicate some $7 billion to be committed for waste management by the year 2000. In addition, the cost for ultimate disposal of high-level wastes could exceed $1 billion by the year 2000, depending on the government surcharge for handling these wastes. Therefore, explicit attention should be given to the possibility that an interim engineered storage system may become permanent solely due to economic costs.