What Are The Pros And Cons Of Storing Nuclear Waste
If nuclear waste is harmful it should be stored away from human populated areas.
If nuclear waste is harmful it should not be stored by humans, but in less to non-populated areas. “Spent nuclear fuel remains highly dangerous for prolonged periods. It has long lived radioactive materials in it that can contaminate the environment and harm public health” (USA Today). Thousands of Americans are exposed to nuclear waste sites across the country. And if we do not take action to find somewhere else to store this waste. Many innocent people will be affected in the long run. There was one significant theme that recurred in almost every article and web page I searched about nuclear waste. This pertained to Yucca Mountain, the controversy of storing nuclear waste by the famous Yucca Mountains has been a hot topic dating back to 1987. “Recently, given the cost disadvantage of long-term storage and the fact that it does not really solve the problem, scientists have been pushing for a switch of focus to recycling spent fuel. Much of the fuel that is considered spent by US standards has life left in it, and can be reprocessed into other …show more content…
forms of fuel used in further power production “(Geiselman, 2005). Also the Yucca Mountain operation is helpful to my hypothesis because it is 100 miles outside of Las Vegas. And if something bad was to happen i.e. explosion or leak, it could result in millions of people getting injured or even death. My findings through the research back up my hypothesis and what I believe tremendously.
In almost every article it had somewhere, where it talked about the surrounding area the waste dump was being located at.” Utahn’s overwhelmingly oppose a proposal to “temporarily” store up to 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods on tribal lands in Tooele’s skull valley. In a poll 400 Utahn’s conducted for KSL-TV and the Deseret Morning News, 84 percent of 400 people polled oppose the nuclear waste repository “(Deseret News Editorial). Researching this project did not just make me aware of the unsafe placing of nuclear waste. It has opened my mind to realize there are multiple issues in America with population safety and concern. I.e. dump sites, laying land over “dead mind field, chemical plants located near small towns &
cities. Personally my view on this topic has changed not how I support it, but my feeling towards it. I feel more strongly about the issue and even though it has been a great debate over the years more action could be taken. “Unfortunately, nature did a much better job of handling the by-products of nuclear power than we have” (Harrell). To me not enough steps are being taken to resolve the issue and make it safer, instead of putting it on the back burner. “There are some 65,000 tons of nuclear waste now in temporary storage throughout the U.S., but in 2009, the President halted work on a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, following years of controversy and legal wrangling” (Harrell). Before this project I knew about nuclear power but I was not aware of how they exposed of the waste or how they did so. Also I did not know that some was of the waste was being considered to be stored around populated areas. I found this out in assignment 1 where there was a survey sent out to surrounding towns about how they felt. Through this assignment I learned and explored all available to me through the school system. Also how to weave out a good source for a paper and not so good sources. I found after learning how to research from databases it was pretty simple, even the learning process was easy. One thing that was difficult was becoming comfortable with not being able to use google and finding other areas of the World Wide Web.
Works Cited
"Storage Timeline Threatens Environment." USA Today Magazine. Ed. USA TODAY. N.p., Apr. 2013. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Geiselman, B. (2005, August). Analysts call for recycling of spent nuclear fuel rods. Waste News, 11(9).
Harrell, Eben. "Bury Our Nuclear Waste — Before It Buries Us." Time. N.p., 15 Aug. 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
"No Nuclear Waste, Period." Deseret News. Ed. Deseret News. N.p., 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
If nuclear waste is harmful it should not be stored by humans, but in less to non-populated areas. “Spent nuclear fuel remains highly dangerous for prolonged periods. It has long lived radioactive materials in it that can contaminate the environment and harm public health” (USA Today). Thousands of Americans are exposed to nuclear waste sites across the country. And if we do not take action to find somewhere else to store this waste. Many innocent people will be affected in the long run. There was one significant theme that recurred in almost every article and web page I searched about nuclear waste. This pertained to Yucca Mountain, the controversy of storing nuclear waste by the famous Yucca Mountains has been a hot topic dating back to 1987. “Recently, given the cost disadvantage of long-term storage and the fact that it does not really solve the problem, scientists have been pushing for a switch of focus to recycling spent fuel. Much of the fuel that is considered spent by US standards has life left in it, and can be reprocessed into other …show more content…
forms of fuel used in further power production “(Geiselman, 2005). Also the Yucca Mountain operation is helpful to my hypothesis because it is 100 miles outside of Las Vegas. And if something bad was to happen i.e. explosion or leak, it could result in millions of people getting injured or even death. My findings through the research back up my hypothesis and what I believe tremendously.
In almost every article it had somewhere, where it talked about the surrounding area the waste dump was being located at.” Utahn’s overwhelmingly oppose a proposal to “temporarily” store up to 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods on tribal lands in Tooele’s skull valley. In a poll 400 Utahn’s conducted for KSL-TV and the Deseret Morning News, 84 percent of 400 people polled oppose the nuclear waste repository “(Deseret News Editorial). Researching this project did not just make me aware of the unsafe placing of nuclear waste. It has opened my mind to realize there are multiple issues in America with population safety and concern. I.e. dump sites, laying land over “dead mind field, chemical plants located near small towns &
cities. Personally my view on this topic has changed not how I support it, but my feeling towards it. I feel more strongly about the issue and even though it has been a great debate over the years more action could be taken. “Unfortunately, nature did a much better job of handling the by-products of nuclear power than we have” (Harrell). To me not enough steps are being taken to resolve the issue and make it safer, instead of putting it on the back burner. “There are some 65,000 tons of nuclear waste now in temporary storage throughout the U.S., but in 2009, the President halted work on a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, following years of controversy and legal wrangling” (Harrell). Before this project I knew about nuclear power but I was not aware of how they exposed of the waste or how they did so. Also I did not know that some was of the waste was being considered to be stored around populated areas. I found this out in assignment 1 where there was a survey sent out to surrounding towns about how they felt. Through this assignment I learned and explored all available to me through the school system. Also how to weave out a good source for a paper and not so good sources. I found after learning how to research from databases it was pretty simple, even the learning process was easy. One thing that was difficult was becoming comfortable with not being able to use google and finding other areas of the World Wide Web.
Works Cited
"Storage Timeline Threatens Environment." USA Today Magazine. Ed. USA TODAY. N.p., Apr. 2013. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Geiselman, B. (2005, August). Analysts call for recycling of spent nuclear fuel rods. Waste News, 11(9).
Harrell, Eben. "Bury Our Nuclear Waste — Before It Buries Us." Time. N.p., 15 Aug. 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
"No Nuclear Waste, Period." Deseret News. Ed. Deseret News. N.p., 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.