Posted on 12/22/2006 10:38:31 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The state of Nevada on Friday asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject the U.S. government's plan to store thousands of tons of nuclear waste temporarily above ground at a mountain located about 90 miles from Las Vegas.
The Energy Department is set to file an application with the NRC in mid 2008 for a license to operate the Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear storage repository in Nevada, which would hold radioactive waste underground from more than 100 nuclear power plants, along with the tons of leftovers from the U.S. nuclear weapons program.
The permanent storage site is years behind schedule and until it is ready, the department wants to place the nuclear waste temporarily above ground.
Nevada has vehemently opposed Yucca Mountain becoming the country's nuclear waste dump, but has been overruled by the U.S. Congress. Blocking above ground interim storage at the site would delay the eventual arrival of any radioactive waste put permanently inside Yucca Mountain.
Nevada says it is worried the radioactive waste could linger at the allegedly temporary surface site for decades, pointing out that the 21,000 tons of waste that might be stored above ground is seven times the amount of waste the permanent underground storage facility would be able to receive each year if it is finally opened.
In a petition to the NRC, Nevada said federal law specifically prohibits large interim storage in the state as long as it is the location for the country's permanent nuclear waste repository.
"Planned storage of seven times the annual emplacement rate at Yucca Mountain is nothing more than an unlawful interim storage site in embarrassingly thin disguise," said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.
Nevada asked the NRC to restrict the time any radioactive waste could be stored above ground to no more than 12 months.
"I can see the need for some limited storage capacity at a site to support operations, and that is why, in this petition, we are proposing that the commission's licensing rule limit surface storage at the site to a time period of no more than one year," Loux said.
Yucca Mountain originally was to open in 1998 but has been delayed until at least 2017 due to scientific foul-ups and political stonewalling.
Nuclear waste sits at 131 temporary locations in 39 states, including the 103 nuclear reactors where it is produced.
There are currently about 54,000 metric tons of waste from civilian nuclear plants and 13,300 metric tons of U.S. military waste. Every year, the civilian waste stockpile grows by about 2,000 metric tons.
The alternative is what?
Typical NIMBYitis.
"Typical NIMBYitis."
Harry's backyard.
Wonder if Harry owns any land around there. If he did he would get it through in no time.
Sure Nevada took billions in taxpayer dollars to study a nuke repository, but now is backing out?
From a geological perspective it's a pretty weird place to pick - quite a bit of volcanism in the area in fairly recent (geologically speaking) times.
more onsite storage, a few major regional storage facilities, outsource the storage altogether to offshore locales, or reprocess it..
it doesn't matter which are pursued, all of those involve many years of litigation,,
to walk away from the investment at Yucca to date is gonna hurt if it comes to that.
Neveda is simply upping the ante. In the end...it'll still go there...but they are going to get billions per year as "rent". Every kid in Neveda will be able to go to college free by the time this episode ends. You have to remember...somewhere in the midst of this mess...is Reid. And I'm betting huge payments will be set up for various players in this episode.
I was under the impression that it was for all intents and purposes dormant there. You think the Texas site should have been chosen?
I've got news for Senator Reid. It's happening.
Yep. It'll happen. We can't smoke in bars here, but we'll be able to store nuclear waste.
:-)
Well if anybody would know about NIMBYitis, it would be a Californian.
EPA
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/yucca/about.htm
About Yucca Mountain and the Standards
Store it at Harry Ried's house.
william jefferson has some room in his freezer too.
"They want clean cheap power and they don't want to deal with its consequences."
You do realize that that's an oxymoronic statement?
And this is just one more example of how leftists opposed to nuclear power have made it far more expensive than it ought to be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.