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| Fig. 1: The South Portal entrance to the Yucca Mountain. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
A large problem that the United States faces is the question of where to store nuclear waste that is generated in our country. Nuclear waste is created from nuclear plants that produce waste while generating electricity. Reactors run on nuclear fuel to produce electricity. Nuclear waste has been created for different reasons in the past military weapons production, mining, electrical power generation, medical diagnosis and treatment, biological and chemical research, and other industrial uses. After this fuel is used, its removed, stored, then eventually transferred to a permanent disposal site. Nuclear waste causes cancer, DNA mutations, and kills cells. [1]
In 1982, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which required the establishment of a place to store nuclear waste. [2] The goal of this was to establish a program of research, development, and demonstration of the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In 1987, the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was designated by this act in order to be a geological repository storage located in the Yucca Mountain, which lies about 80 miles north of Las Vegas (see Fig. 1). In 2002, this project was officially approved by Congress, but funding for the site ended in 2011. There were many difficulties and concerns that were voiced regarding this project by politicians and locals. The state of Nevada showed strong opposition towards this project. [1] In 2012, the Obama Administration reviewed other options other than the Yucca Mountains to deposit high-level waste. President Obama created the Blue Ribbon Commission on Americas Nuclear Future, which was a 15-member panel of experts that would look into ways to handle this nuclear waste. It recommended that Congress create and fund a new organization dedicated solely to managing spent nuclear fuel. In 2016, work stopped on the tunnel and it was boarded up, leading to abandonment of the site. [2] The inventory of used fuel has grown to more than 80 metric tons while there has been government inaction to solve this problem. [3]
In August 2018, Nevada's 3rd Congressional District Rep. Jacky Rosen stated that the transportation and storage of nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain, being less than 100 miles from Las Vegas, poses many negative consequences. One of the biggest ones being that its a threat to national security, due to the many U.S. military bases that surround the Yucca Mountain. These bases include Nellis Air Force Base (the premier pilot- training facility throughout the world), the Nevada Test, the Training Range, and Creech Air Force Base. [4] Rosen claims that Nevada is critical to our national security, and that moving waste through the Nevada Test and Training Range can put our country at risk. Storage of nuclear waste near these military bases is one thing, but moving this nuclear waste is another problem in itself. [4] Rosen is pushing for Congress to find a way to safely and effectively move this waste elsewhere.
© Caroline Lampl. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] R. C. Ewing, w. J. Weber, and R. W. Clinard Jr., "Radiation Effects in Nuclear Waste Forms for High-Level Radioactive Waste," Prog. Nucl. Energ. 29, 63 (1995).
[2] M. L. Wald, "Calls to Use Yucca Mountain as a Nuclear Waste Site, Now Deemed Safe," New York Times, 16 Oct 14.
[3] F. Pearce, "Awash in Radioactive Waste," New York Times, 24 May 18.
[4] R. Hagar, "Yucca Nuclear Dump a Threat to Nevada Military Bases, Rosen Says," Las Vegas Sun, 16 Sep 18.
