And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 10:38:56 EST >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 226 >Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Delivered-To: mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [DOEWatch] U.S.: Nevada desert is promising site for nuke waste > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Source: >http://cnn.com/US/9812/18/environment.nuclear.reut/ >========================================================== >U.S.: Nevada desert is promising site for nuke waste > >December 18, 1998 CNN > >WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of >Energy said Friday that Yucca Mountain in the Nevada >desert was a "promising" site for becoming the nation's >permanent nuclear waste repository, pending more >research on its safety. > >By calling it "promising," the agency rejected pleas from >environmental groups to disqualify Yucca Mountain. >Those groups have cited research showing that >groundwater could be contaminated by radioactive waste >during the thousands of years the nuclear fuel would >remain highly radioactive. > >DOE released its first detailed analysis on the potential >waste site in a long-awaited viability assessment. The >agency said that if it were eventually approved, the site >would cost some $19 billion to build and monitor. > >"DOE believes that Yucca Mountain remains a promising >site for a geologic repository and that work should >proceed to support a decision in 2001 on whether to >recommend the site to the president for development as a >repository," the DOE said. > >For the site to be recommended, the agency said it must >still demonstrate that a repository can be designed and >built at Yucca Mountain that would protect the public and >the environment. > >The waste site would become the home for some 70,000 >metric tons of spent radioactive fuel rods from nuclear >power plants, and additional waste from production of >nuclear weapons. > >Currently, around 38,000 tons of spent fuel is being stored >at more than 70 commercial nuclear power plants across >the country, pending the resolution of a dispute over when >the federal government must remove the waste for storage. > >DOE said uncertainties remained about key natural >processes in the Yucca Mountain region, and over >preliminary design plans. To address the outstanding >questions, the agency said environmental impact >assessments would be conducted in the next two years >before the final recommendation in 2001. > >The report said the advantages of making Yucca Mountain >the repository site included: > >-Location. The mountain lies 100 miles northwest of Las >Vegas on unpopulated land owned by the federal >government and adjacent to the Nevada Test Site, the >longtime home for more than 900 nuclear weapons tests; > >-Lack of water. DOE said water is the main way >radioactive elements are transported from a repository, >and noted that Yucca Mountain is in a desert, with an >average rainfall of 7 inches; > >-Groundwater. The nearest groundwater is isolated in a >closed basis and does not flow into any any rivers that >reach the ocean. > >The DOE said the natural geology and the preliminary >repository design can keep water away from the waste for >thousands of years. Using mathematical models, the >agency said that for 10,000 years after the repository is >closed in around the year 2045, people living near Yucca >Mountain are expected to receive little or no increase in >radiation exposure. > >The maximum radiation exposure was expected to occur >after 300,000 years, the report said. > >DOE said the preparation of environmental impact >statements in 1999 and 2000 would cost around $1.1 >billion, and if approved, the construction and placement >of waste would cost around another $18.7 billion in >constant 1998 dollars. > >The first waste would be emplaced in 2010 and the last >waste in 2033, and the site closed 10 years after the last >waste is laid to rest. DOE said the total cost to complete >the program, including transportation of waste and storage >would cost around $36.6 billion. The number does not >include the $5.9 billion that has spent on the program thus >far. >========================================================== > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >To unsubscribe from this mailing list, or to change your subscription >to digest, go to the ONElist web site, at http://www.onelist.com and >select the User Center link from the menu bar on the left. > <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.... Please Check it before you send it: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
