Yucca Mountain Approved for US Nuclear Waste Storage

Cephalien writes "As reported by Reuters (The link is from AT&T Worldnet -- No registration required, etc, etc), looks like congress has pushed this through against Nevada's objections (NIMBY, anyone?). Now all that's left is the licensing from the NRC. I dunno about you folks, but I'm glad I don't live in Nevada." After 20 years in the making and 4 billion in studies construction on the $58b facility can begin. It was this or Cmdrtacos basement.

Comments

Re:10000 years

[alfredw]

What happens if some geologist of the future unknowingly takes a core sample in just the wrong place, to name just one of many not entirely unlikely scenarios.

I would hope that future archaeologists, especially ones studying our era, carry Geiger counters with them at all times. Consider finding the ruins of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, even... they're going to be dangerous for a lot longer than the cities will be there.

Re:Unfortunately...

[taliver]

But couldn't you be doing more, since you have time to read and post to slashdot?

Think of the children!

(Goodbye high karma...)

Re:Finally.

[jackb_guppy]

desolted is one issue. Stable is another.

Yucca Mt is as with most all mountians in the western United States are part of pressure ridges, formed in the crust of the earth. These pressure ridges are on fault lines for earthquakes and later volcanic as it gets closer to the Pacific Plate.

A safer location today would be Iowa, Neb, Ill, or even Texas... Large flat states with out Press Ridge Mountians.

The scary part is...

[nick_danger]

...I used to work at a beltway bandit that had some of the initial contracts with DOE to study the site. One of my coworkers came back from a site visit reporting that there was no way they could build there. She said that while on site there was a minor earthquake, and that locals report they happen with some frequency.

10K years is a long time. The stuff is emitting particles and radiation which will change the structure, if not the composition of anything containing it. So what's gonna happen when the big one hits and the now brittle storage drums rupture? Can you say "accidental criticality?"

Re:So..

[renoX]

And it's funny how Bush said that the US cannot afford to comply with Kyoto's restriction (limitation of CO2 rejects) while at the same time the US is one of the richest country.

At least, radioactive wastes will quite difficult to handle are on a solid state so they do not pollute everybody..

not necessarly true.........

[Tarazis]

I live in Ireland and in the evening news about 2 weeks ago they did a story about this and one of the major objections was that the mountain has streems running through it. Now what their storing down there won't be safe for ten thousand years, there is no way to predict what will happen to the area within that timespan. Will water seep in and croad the containers? No? what about a thousand years from now, can you say that they still will be safe? and those mountains are changing over time, who can say what will happen to them and the stuff that they are holding? what if the waste got into the watertable? I don't feel that those questions habve been answered with certinty. It just seems that because we have had anylitical science for about the last 400 years, and it has done alot for us (me science guy, ugg!), it jsut seem like complete arrogence to say that we will know exactly what will happen to this stuff (taking into account error calculations and guessing at uncertinty....). We need to take a step back and think about this for a moment, is this the kind of christmas (or whatever) present we want to leave for our children. All american readers, think about this and let that decide how you vote in november!