Posted on 03/04/2026 7:20:20 AM PST by Pontiac
Utah leaders are aggressively pursuing nuclear power, but a controversial “poison pill” lingers: what to do with the dangerous waste. Now the state is exploring whether to become one of the antidotes for the nation — by potentially storing nuclear waste in the massive salt deposit in Millard County.
Caverns carved into the salt dome already hold natural gas liquids, gasoline and other fuels. Separate storage of hydrogen began there this year.
The Trump administration wants states to volunteer as hosts for “nuclear lifecycle innovation campuses” — sites that will take radioactive material for a variety of uses, like storage, recycling, enrichment, fabrication, deploying reactors or powering manufacturing and data centers.
The same day the Department of Energy began soliciting states to host campuses, Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, contacted several lawmakers, lobbyists, private equity investors and Millard County officials, in an email obtained by the Millard County Chronicle Progress and shared with The Salt Lake Tribune.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
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Nevada has an unused multi-billion dollar faility designed for nuclear waste storage.
Now that Harry Reid (who, single-handedly STOPPED the facility FRom being used) is taking his dirt nap, the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository should be used!
Yup.
Other nations reprocess nuclear waste for reuse. Why don’t WE?
Yes, and certainly safer than sharing a geological structure already in use for “ natural gas liquids, gasoline and other fuels.”
I always figured the danger was in the shipping and not storage of nuclear waste - East Palestine, Ohio, but with nuclear waste casks.
I hope that POTUS 47 has the stones to use it!
Yucca Mountain is ideal. It should be used. But salt dome storage correctly designed could also be effective. We have a lot of experience regarding the use of salt domes for storage of petroleum products.
There are 180 or so nuclear waste storage sites spread across the US. I remember this number from the time when Yucca Mountain was in the news. It would be quite ideal to have them in one.
Trump’s a builder. I can’t see him not building a ‘big beautiful’ one. Perhaps there are more immediate fish to fry.
Which nations?
I’ll concede your point.
Use both of them?
Yucca Mountain is, AFAIK, paid for and ready to tke nuclear waste.
IDK. New is cheaper? Safer?
The biggest threat to the public out there is Chemical Shipments on rail.
East Palestine, Ohio is proof enough of that.
Shipping of High Level nuclear waste can be pretty safe in comparison.
France for one.
The did it all 50 years ago. They tried like hell and could not break the shipping casks. What happened at East Palestine would not even scratch them.
Because we elected Jimmy Carter.
Some mistakes you just don't walk away from.
Like Obama said: Elections have consequences. (Sorry I had to to quote Obama)
Yes, it does.
However, a little known fact is that Yucca Mountain is/was a pilot project and was never going to be large enough for all of the waste in the US.
For me the BIG news in this article is that the company wants to MINE the nuclear waste.
This is the game changer. If we reprocess the fuel, salvage the useful isotopes, plutonium and uranium, the waste volume that needs to be buried is much smaller.
Reprocess the fuel and Yucca Mountain might be enough for the job.
Although, in my mind a salt mine is a better choice for burial. I can explain if you like.
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