Danger Underground: Nuclear Waste Disposal in Yucca Mountain

RD for the Yeoman site was not initiated until 2001. The RA was completed for this site in 2005. The EPA continues to monitor this site and does inspections every 5 years. The site continues to fail these inspections due to the inability to continue the

In 1982, Congress passed the nuclear waste policy act that said the Department of Energy (DOE) was to build and operate a repository for used nuclear fuel and other highly radioactive waste (NEI). The DOE had until 1998 to find a location and build a site. In 1987, the nuclear waste policy act was amended and the DOE was told to study the Yucca Mountains only because it was a remote desert location (NEI). Even thought it is a desert location it still affects the nearby civilizations. The federal government in 2008 filed a construction license application to

The Hanford nuclear site in Benton, Washington was established in 1943 to produce the raw

For years, the State of Nevada has found the Yucca Mountain project unacceptable because of the obvious logical and scientific issues that make the site itself unsafe. Additional support for their argument is that other than being far from the nuclear waste, the repository cannot really separate itself and its dangers from the environment and humans. Even though Nevada started with just being upset about the state having the political finger pointed at them to hold the whole nation’s nuclear waste but now their argument is stronger (Adams, 2010). Not only is Yucca Mountains’ size not big enough for the entire countries nuclear waste, but geologic factors could make the waste

•     Waste from nuclear energy stays radioactive for thousands of years. Great care has to be taken in storing this waste safely.

Earlier this year the Havasupai Tribe and a coalition of conservation groups sued the United States Forest Service for allowing Energy Fuel Resources Inc. to operate a mine under a 1986 federal environmental review without tribal consultation. The Canyon mine was previously in non-operational status due to low uranium stock prices in 1992. Opponents of the uranium mining operation want the federal environmental review updated and

Prior to the late 1950s the site was used as an excavation pit for sand and gravel. The quarry was subsequently used for the disposal of waste materials from 1950 until 1966. 10 acres of the 28-acre site has been used as a disposal area for several hazardous waste contaminants that included volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, vinyl chloride and xylene; other organics such as phenols and PCBs as well as lead. The main area of contamination is in the southern half of the 10 acre area which encompasses about 6 acres which

We learned that Little Cottonwood Canyon is home to geological history, varying rock formations, earthquake potential, ancient glacial formations, landslides, and our effect. This Canyon runs along the Wasatch fault and has much potential for large earthquakes. The mountains have been carved by glacial formations dated back to the Ice Age. Rock falls and landslides have left large boulders as evidence of erosion and moisture in the rocks. The hazards on this mountain range are mass wasting, radon, earthquakes, and the flooding of Little Cottonwood

The South Australian Government is looking into dumping high-level nuclear waste within the state and, what better place to house it then an already active nuclear waste site? In your backyard?

The discovery of rainwater and chlorine-36 made opponents sure that the project could never be viable. After a long fight, Yucca Mountain was taken “off the table” (Brown). The Obama administration withdrew approval of the project in 2009. However, in his 2010 State of the Union address, Obama insisted that “a need to [build] a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants” exited (Koch).

PA should not close TMI because it is important to the inhabitants of this state. According to the CEO of Exelon, Chris Cane, about 675 workers will lose their job if this power plant retires. Nuclear power plants, in general, don’t take up a lot of space, causing local habitats to be preserved. The fuel for nuclear power plants, uranium, can last us for 70-80 years, which can last longer than fossil fuels. We should keep TMI open because it is a reliable source of energy for the people around it, it can last us a long time, and it is a cleaner source of energy to use.

South Dakota was one of the states that provided a great amount of uranium to be used during the 50’s, 60’s and the Cold War era. The demand of uranium increased and the constructions of mines were also increased. One of the areas that needed uranium was the military to be used in weapons ammunition and vehicles. Most of these mines were abandoned and the contamination spread around the nearby land and waters. “An earlier study of Forest Service land, on which the old mines from the 1950s and 1960s are located, found levels of arsenic, uranium and other contaminants in concentrations higher than what occurs naturally” (Walker, 2007). Some of these waste was carry down by rain precipitation to areas away from the mine. Indian reservations were affected by the mine contamination and

Craig Welch from the Washington Post Company also agrees with Caldicott. He states: "But now the worst waste from the country's most polluted place has nowhere to go.” Currently, all the wastes that are waiting to be transferred to another repository are still awaiting the construction of new repository sites. Because of the recent Obama administration's decision to withdraw licensing to build a high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the worst and most dangerous nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project is left undecided. Some people also worry that Hanford (the most contamination nuclear site in the United States) will have to handle the nuclear garbage it currently has on site and it is possible that the waste from elsewhere

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction, it uses fuel made from mined and processed uranium to generate heat and electricity. It is the world’s largest emission free energy source. Nuclear energy also has the lowest impact on the environment than other energy sources. But it can still be very harmful because of the radiation is causes and the radioactive waste it produces. Radioactive wastes are the ruins of nuclear materials that are used in providing nuclear energy. These wastes contain high levels of radiation that can be very hazardous to humans and the environment. Some people accept and support the idea of using nuclear energy and others don’t. In the following paragraphs, some major nuclear accidents and the public acceptance of nuclear energy will be discussed.

Nuclear waste needs a proper and safe place to be put in, because if you don't, you could put others lives in danger and contaminate certain things, such as the water supplies or the plants that the wildlife would have to eat for example, storing nuclear waste in the Yucca Mountain would be a bad idea because the containers that they store nuclear waste in are known for corroding and leaking and eventually getting into the water supply in the ground. The Yucca Mountain would not be a safe place to store high level nuclear waste because the Yucca Mountain is an active volcano right now and if an earthquake should happen, the toxins from the nuclear waste would contaminate the water line in the ground.