Yucca Mountain Essay

I wrote this essay last year for my English 220 class and got a 96. I decided to share it...

Yucca Mountain Repository: Practical Solution?

Nuclear Waste: These two words almost never fail to gain the attention of any citizen, and the first concern is "Is it dangerous?" Yes. But you must also consider long-term exposure to the sun, excessive X-rays, and rush hour traffic. Like these other examples, nuclear waste is only dangerous if precautions are not taken. Currently, there are 131 different nuclear waste sites scattered across the United States, including one in New Mexico. What do we do with all this waste? We let it sit in special containers, decaying and releasing harmful radiation that is shielded by the walls of the canisters. This is where the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository comes in.

Since 1978, the United States government and the Department of Energy have been researching Yucca Mountain—which is located about one hundred miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada—as a possible site for a storage area for the nation's nuclear waste. Its relatively close proximity to such major centers of population, however, has caused a major controversy in Nevada. While some people may disagree, saying that the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository (Yucca Mountain Project) is a danger to the environment and is an unnecessary financial undertaking, the benefits far outweigh the potential problems.

But what exactly is the Yucca Mountain Project? It is simply a permanent solution to a current problem. The Yucca Mountain Repository is a series of underground tunnels that have been carefully constructed and shielded, using a network of remote-controlled, protected, specially designed railcars to transport solid nuclear waste into an underground chamber roughly 1,000 feet below the surface (DOE fact sheet). The nuclear waste from across the country will be contained in these tunnels. The storage chambers and tunnels would be monitored constantly, allowing for any dangers to be identified and dealt with accordingly. Having all the solid nuclear waste in the nation in one location would lessen the cost of maintenance and increase the safety for the environment on a large scale.

The general population in Nevada, however, opposes the Yucca Mountain Project, citing the fact that they have no nuclear program of their own and should not be responsible for the nuclear waste generated by the rest of the country (LV Sun). The debate has been prolonged by accusations of falsified safety reports, amendments to safety regulations, and the natural political problems inherent in any major project that involves public safety. These concerns have drifted in and out of the public eye for years, with the occasional newspaper article stirring citizens in an uproar, only to have the frenzy die down within a few weeks with the release of new information. Usually, the only problem is lack of information.

The Yucca Mountain facility will be constructed, monitored, and maintained by the United States Department of Energy, who will be held to the safety standards put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency. Working together, the DOE and the EPA should create a network of safeguards and checkpoints suitable for the maintenance of such an enormous undertaking (EPA). The organizations responsible for the creation of the Yucca Mountain facility have also made a considerable effort to keep the public well informed and up-to-date with accurate information. Information is readily available on the official government websites, and is typically easy to understand. There are even transcripts of many of the official technical documents being reviewed by various committees.

There is the question of transportation of the waste, however. A common misconception about nuclear waste is that it is flammable or explosive. This is not the case. Radioactive waste will only explode in a forced chemical reaction. It cannot combust otherwise. Responding to concerns of the public, the DOE and EPA have stated that there are plans in place for transportation. Carefully designed railcars that would shield the surroundings from harmful radiation will be constructed. According to the US Department of Energy,

"Estimates for radiation dose from transportation, based on the exposure of a person standing 100 feet from a vehicle that is carrying waste and moving 15 miles per hour, is about 0.0004 millirem. A person would receive 5,000 to 12,500 times more radiation dose on a round-trip flight from Los Angeles to New York on a commercial airline (2.5 millirem)" (DOE).

Nearer to the actual location of the repository, there are plans to build a railroad through the Nellis Air Force Range to get closer to the site, avoiding main rail lines. When transportation by railroad is not possible, the waste will be transported by highly trained drivers of heavy-load trucks—again, they will use specially designed containers to prevent radiation leaks and to protect the contents from any inclement weather encountered (Eureka County NWO).

This leads us to the problem of tourism. Would the thriving tourist trade in nearby Las Vegas be affected by the transportation and storage of nuclear waste a mere 80-100 miles away? It is very doubtful. Las Vegas is far away from any of the rail corridors planned for transport, and the repository is next to the Nevada Test Site, inside the Nellis Air Force Range. There is no reason for Nevadans or tourists to take any more notice of the site than they have in previous years.

Would the stored nuclear waste have an adverse affect on the environment? It is unlikely. Yucca Mountain has undergone rigorous study and testing for over 25 years by leading geologists, biologists, and other scientists. Its dry climate is preferable because the most likely way for harmful radiation to spread would be through the flow of water. The repository will be built 1,000 feet below the surface and 1,000 feet above the water table. Most of the surface water will evaporate, get used by plant and animal life, or simply run off the mountain. Any remaining water would have to filter through 1,000 feet of dense rock to reach the repository (which will be lined with steel and concrete), and then through another 1,000 feet of even denser rock to get to the water table. Any radiation that did make it through would be negligible (DOE).

It is clear that the concerns surrounding the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository are legitimate ones, but that the DOE has made a considerable effort to make the repository safe for centuries. The use of the repository would be beneficial to the United States as a whole, and would considerably lessen the cost of safeguarding the nuclear waste currently scattered across the country. It is a practical and useful solution to a long-term problem.

Works Cited:

Grove, Benjamin. "Utah senator: Yucca 'does not make sense.'" The Las Vegas Sun, 21 September, 2005. 07 March, 2007

The Eureka County Nuclear Waste Office. "Map page." 07 March, 2007.

United States Department of Energy. "Overview: Yucca Mountain Project." 07 March, 2007.

United States Department of Energy. "Americans' Average Radiation Exposure." 07 March, 2007.