Yucca Mountain Yea or Nay?

[sciencesavvy89]

I am currently doing a paper on the disposal of nuclear waste and I want to get your opinions on the Yucca Mountain debate. I think that when we have a bunch of politicians with no geoscience or science background period making serious scientific decisions for the country we are in for a world of trouble.
Realistically nuclear power seems to be the way of the future and with the increased use of nuclear power means the increased amounts of spent fuel we have to dispose of. We have already put billions of dollars into Yucca Mountain and I feel that is where the controversy lies. The science shows that it is not a good site nor is it big enough but finding another site, generating funds for that site, and building the repository could take decades.
I say to the seas with it but the possibility of leaked radiation could disrupt ecosystems and food supply depending on how deep the storage site was. BUUUUUT if the spent fuel leaked into the ground we are way more

The more and more environmental classes I take the more jaded I get about life on earth!

Oh and I am strongly opposed to the us storing our waste in Nevada. Texas is a much more viable options but you know what Texas has that Nevada doesn't? MORE POLITICIANS!

 

[Ann_Sulu]

Yeah, sometimes you just half wanna walk up to one of them, and say something along the lines of "Hey, did you know that bad things can happen in the future if we don't do things correctly now?" *sigh*

 

[sciencesavvy89]

We have fucked up safety procedures more that once. Things that were meant to be safe have had catastrophic effects on our environment. For instance the BP deepwater horizon oil spill, Three Mile Island.... Humans get lazy and sometimes safety measures aren't fool proof.

 

[Jesse0328]

Yucca was defunded a few years ago, so unless funding is restored, right now, there is no long term repository for high level nuclear waste in the United States.

Honestly, I'm a fan of deep borehole disposal for radioactive waste. Basically, in a geologically stable area, you drill a deep shaft, like 5km or so, lower 1-2km canisters worth of waste, and seal the hole. The method would be modular, relatively inexpensive since existing drilling technology can be used, and you wouldn't have the logistical and political challenges of shipping all that high level radioactive waste to Nevada.

Salt mine disposal is also an interesting idea.

 

[sciencesavvy89]

Yucca was defunded a few years ago, so unless funding is restored, right now, there is no long term repository for high level nuclear waste in the United States.

Honestly, I'm a fan of deep borehole disposal for radioactive waste. Basically, in a geologically stable area, you drill a deep shaft, like 5km or so, lower 1-2km canisters worth of waste, and seal the hole. The method would be modular, relatively inexpensive since existing drilling technology can be used, and you wouldn't have the logistical and political challenges of shipping all that high level radioactive waste to Nevada.

Salt mine disposal is also an interesting idea.