Yucca Mountain Case Study
Background
Safe and permanent disposal of highly radioactive wastes in the United States has been sought after since radioactive materials first came about. In 1982, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) created a procedure for establishing a lasting, underground repository for high-level radioactive waste. Congress assigned responsibility to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to site, construct, operate, and close a repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Ten sites were chosen by DOE for potential consideration and in 1987, Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nevada was selected as the lone site to be studied.
Yucca Mountain is part of a six-mile-long volcanic ridge on federally controlled lands on the edge of the Nevada Test Site. It was planned for the repository to be built approximately 1,000 feet below the land surface and 1,000 feet above the water table. DOE explains that the site was chosen due to several factors, such as its isolation from population centers, location within a closed hydrologic basin, and its protection by natural geologic barriers. DOE was to begin accepting spent fuel at the Yucca …show more content…
The site itself was chosen largely because of its impervious geology; mainly the mountain would shield the waste from natural forces like water. However, in 1996, it was discovered that water was infiltrating Yucca Mountain much faster than previously thought possible. The tuff, a rock formed of compressed volcanic ash, was heavily fractured at the site due to ongoing seismic activity. The fractures allow surface water to travel into and through the mountain far more quickly than guidelines set forth by the DOE would permit. Instead of considering another site, DOE chose to alter the current siting rules to accommodate the new discovery and continue with
Safe and permanent disposal of highly radioactive wastes in the United States has been sought after since radioactive materials first came about. In 1982, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) created a procedure for establishing a lasting, underground repository for high-level radioactive waste. Congress assigned responsibility to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to site, construct, operate, and close a repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Ten sites were chosen by DOE for potential consideration and in 1987, Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nevada was selected as the lone site to be studied.
Yucca Mountain is part of a six-mile-long volcanic ridge on federally controlled lands on the edge of the Nevada Test Site. It was planned for the repository to be built approximately 1,000 feet below the land surface and 1,000 feet above the water table. DOE explains that the site was chosen due to several factors, such as its isolation from population centers, location within a closed hydrologic basin, and its protection by natural geologic barriers. DOE was to begin accepting spent fuel at the Yucca …show more content…
The site itself was chosen largely because of its impervious geology; mainly the mountain would shield the waste from natural forces like water. However, in 1996, it was discovered that water was infiltrating Yucca Mountain much faster than previously thought possible. The tuff, a rock formed of compressed volcanic ash, was heavily fractured at the site due to ongoing seismic activity. The fractures allow surface water to travel into and through the mountain far more quickly than guidelines set forth by the DOE would permit. Instead of considering another site, DOE chose to alter the current siting rules to accommodate the new discovery and continue with