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Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository

Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository. Philip Perdue & Paul Tennison. Quick Facts. An amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act enabled Yucca Mountain to be eligible for underground nuclear fuel disposal Yucca Mountain is remote, arid, and geologically stable.

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Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository

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  1. Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository Philip Perdue & Paul Tennison

  2. Quick Facts • An amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act enabled Yucca Mountain to be eligible for underground nuclear fuel disposal • Yucca Mountain is remote, arid, and geologically stable. • Disposed fuel is 1,000 feet below the surface, but is still 1,000 feet above the water table.

  3. Underground Entrance

  4. Location and Date • It was to be located on federal land adjacent to the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nevada, about 80 mi northwest of the Las Vegas Valley • Designated by the NWPA Amendments of 1987, but funding for development was terminated effective via amendment to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, passed by Congress on April 14, 2011

  5. Proposed Layout

  6. Description • Communities in close proximity to the Nevada Test Side have reported the soil in their area turning a dark black color along with other affects such as increases in cancer and birth defects • The failure to get ride of nuclear waste will result in low level radioactive releases of iodine, strontium, cesium, plutonium, and noble gases • Other effects include extensive groundwater contamination and extensive soil contamination

  7. Tunnel Boring Machine

  8. A Two-Sided Story: Pros • Nuclear power plants don’t produce smoke • Nuclear power is more effective in producing electricity than other renewable energy sources, and at a lower cost • Spent Uranium and Plutonium are reused to power the reactor, reducing their volume and toxicity. • Plants only take about 200-400 acres of space, which is low compared to wind farms.

  9. A Two-Sided Story: Cons • Radioactive waste is extremely dangerous • There’s always a possibility of a meltdown, which would leech the radioactive waste into the ground and possibly drinking water • Disrupts animal habitats • Coming in contact with radioactive waste can cause serious pain or death to animals and humans

  10. Projected Outcome • The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was only a proposition, and was never actually constructed, due to lack of federal funding.

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