16 May 2008
Center for Yucca Facts Cites Heritage Foundation Report : Yucca Mountain Remains Critical to Spent Nuclear Fuel Management
See this Yucca Facts blog post for the Heritage Foundation's report on the role of Yucca Mountain in the future of nuclear power in the U.S. While acknowledging that Yucca is not the whole answer, Heritage says it IS part of the solution - if not held up by politics, and if properly managed.
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I would love to read an unbiased report about storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. While I am not a scientist or geologist, I have researched this topic and do not believe Yucca Mountain is the answer. The Heritage Foundation believes Yucca Mountain is the answer for the short term, but there are many problems with this location.
The Heritage Foundation states “First, the spent fuel could be put directly into Yucca Mountain for permanent storage. While politics has made this impossible to date, no scientific, safety, or technological reason prevents it. Volumes of data attest to the repository’s safety. These data have been generated by numerous sources, including both private and public entities, and more studies are being conducted”. While this may be true, there are volumes of data generated to oppose this location for nuclear waste storage.
Nevada is the third most earthquake prone state. Because of this, there are geologic issues that must be considered. If nuclear waste was stored in the bowels of this mountain, the aquifer for the entire Las Vegas valley would be contaminated during a major geologic event.
What about the transportation issues involved with moving all the waste to this location? A high number of nuclear power plants are located on the east coast making it a long trek for the waste to get to Yucca Mountain. The waste would be transported on our highways, railroad tracks and for some parts of the journey, on waterways. Many of the routes would go through large and small cities across this country. I can’t believe this will be done safely.
Because Yucca Mountain is not the answer for nuclear waste storage for eternity, it is imperative that an alternative solution is found. I do like the Foundation’s thought process on recycling spent fuel. Because the recycling process is successful in other countries we would not have to reinvent the wheel. The Foundation states that the recycling process, while invented here, has not been successfully commercialized in the United States and takes time to develop. The proponents of Yucca Mountain have spent YEARS trying to gain approval. Why don’t we spend the time to develop the recycling process which provides us with another energy source? Instead of trying to bury the problem, we could turn nuclear waste into a positive energy solution for our country.
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