Yucca MountainEmily CraverWiliam FairweatherEmily MacieiskiMike NaleidGelver VergeldediosDanny Webb

Yucca Mountain• Why is nuclear power important?• What is nuclear waste?• Why is a permanent nuclear waste storage

imperative?• What are the current and past policies for nuclear

waste storage?• What is Yucca Mountain?

2

Yucca Mountain Overview

• Current and past policies• Roles of organizations• Pros and Cons• Group Stance on the Yucca Mountain issue

3

History

• Research of sites began in the 1970’s– Known that the U.S. needed a place to store our

nuclear waste• Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982• Encourage development of repositories• High-level radioactive waste• Spent nuclear fuel

4

History

• Established Nuclear Waste Fund• Consumers pay a small fee for power

generated at nuclear power plants• Reagan approves three site 1985-1986• Hanford, Washington• Deaf Smith County, Texas• Yucca Mountain, Nevada

5

History

• Act created methods to evaluate and select sites for geological repositories

• 1987• Yucca Mountain amended as permanent

repository site for nation’s nuclear waste• Once selection made• Test of geological suitability

6

Current Policies

• President Bill Clinton vetoes the Yucca Mountain waste repository proposal by Congress in 2000.

• During the Bush administration, the Joint Resolution is passed in 2002.

• The Senators of Nevada do not approve of the waste site. They think it is:

• Highly dangerous• And a “target for terrorism”

7

Current Policies, cont.

• In 2004, there are conflicting standards between the EPA and NAS.

• In 2006, President Bush passes the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which reduces radioactivity from nuclear fuel waste.

• May 7, 2009, President Obama proposes the FY 2010 budget to Congress.

• Yucca Mountain repository program to be eliminated.• Requests $196.5 million for DOE to find alternatives.• Supported by the Nevadans and the DOE Secretary Steven

Chu.

8

Current Policies, cont.

• According to the NWPA of 1982, a repository must be constructed at Yucca Mountain.

• Congress and President Obama must find a nuclear waste site.

• Alternatives are still uncertain.

• March 11, 2009 a blue ribbon panel is formed.

9

Organizations

• EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) • NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission)• DOE (Department of Energy)• DOT (Department of Transportation)• MSHA (Mine Safety and Health

Administration)• Various NGO’s

10

EPA

• “site-specific standards” for protecting public & environment from radioactive waste (air, water, ground)

• NRC to implement, DOE to execute• NWPA 1982 & NWPAA 1987• EnPa 1992• “Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain

Standards” by NAS 1995

11

EPA

• “final” regulations 2001• 2001 – 2004 challenge to regulations via U.S.

District Court of Appeals• Second “final” regulations 2008

12

Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNRC

• Started in 1974. United States safe use of radioactive material for people and environment.

• Waste Policy Act of 1982• Gives final OK to open Yucca Mountain repository• NRC gives licensing and regulation.• Application from DOE for opening – June 3, 2008– Licensing review of application.– Hearings before NCR’s Atomic Safety and Licensing

Boards. 13

Department of TransportationDOT

• Work in conjunction with NRC to insure waste carriers comply with regulations and guidelines.

• Strict Hazardous Material (HM) guidelines.• Operators must be trained and retrained.• First Response Course.• FMCSA Hazardous Materials Program

14

DOE

• Responsible for construction, management, and operations of facilities

• Environmental Impact Statement• License Application

15

Mine Safety and Health AdministrationMSHA

• Safety of workers on site.– Underground mine work– Exposure to nuclear radioactive waste.

• Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

16

NGO’s

• Beyond Nuclear• Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC)

17

Pros• The current storage problem

18

Pros

• Out of all the solutions devised, deep geologic disposal is the most economically feasible method of long term storage of nuclear waste.

• Nuclear power plants may play a bigger role in supplying the nation with power. Therefore, a secure facility needs to be constructed to meet this increase in nuclear waste .

• Creating a repository facility in Nevada will help jumpstart the economy by creating thousands of jobs with the nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain.

19

Pros

• As of April 2009, the federal government has spent over 20 years and $7.7 billion researching Yucca Mountain as a potential repository site.

• Yucca Mountain is an ideal site for geologic disposal of nuclear waste because of its geologic setting, which is a natural barrier to the potential movement of radionuclides from the site.

20

Yucca Mountain

The Cons

• Transportation• Geologic issues• Canisters• Contamination of the

Surrounding Area.

21

Transportation

• Significant exposure to civilians while en route

• Increase in chance of an accident that would harm the populous

• A major security threat as waste is exposed to attack while en route

22

Geologic Issues

• Not proven to be seismically or volcanically inactive

• Earthquakes are still occurring in the region

• Bedrock is not as much of a retardant as was once thought

• Volcanic rock is brittle or very porous

23

Canisters and the Test of Time

• Despite the strength and corrosion resistant metals, the canisters will fail before the waste can become a stable form

• Canisters are designed to last around 10,000 years but some nuclear waste will be radioactive for far longer

• Its only a matter of time before they succumb to the effects of nature

24

Contamination

• If failure occurs, then the affects upon human health and the environment would be severe

• Radioactive waste would seep down into the aquifer and contaminate the water supply

• Its not a matter of if, but when it will happen

25

Our Stance

• Due to all the past efforts which have been put into Yucca Mountain, the repository should be used because the nuclear waste needs to be stored somewhere, and Yucca Mountain is much safer than the sites the waste is currently at

• President Obama should not impede the hard work of all those involved in the Yucca Mountain project since its inception

26