Geopolitics of nuclear waste
More debate has begun over questions related to the safety of high-level waste disposal at the Yucca Mountain site in the Nevada desert. An engineering geologists, Jerry Szymanski, one of the Department of Energy`s (DOE) own staffers in Las Vegas, has proposed that the $15-billion repository would sit on top of an intensely active structure that, if altered by an earthquake, would send a slug of ground water up from deep within the mountain into the waste storage area. This theory has already been slammed in two formal reviews and has virtually no support among geologists. However, enough doubt has been raised that much more geological testing will be necessary to prove or disprove Szymanski`s theory. Nevada state officials are also using all methods to thwart or block the project. The question of the origin of a series of calcium carbonate and opal veins exposed in an exploratory pit, trench 14, near the top of the mountain is also far from answered. The DOE and US Geological Survey may have to collect much more information on the quantity, size, and location of carbonate sites in the area at a high financial outlay to the US government before a complete case on the origin of the material in trench 14 can be made.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 138167
- Journal Information:
- Science, Vol. 251, Issue 4996; Other Information: PBD: 22 Feb 1991
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Preparing to Submit a License Application for Yucca Mountain
An evaluation of evidence pertaining to the origin of vein deposits exposed in Trench 14, Nevada Test Site, Nevada