232
Two underground nuclear waste repositories exist in the U.S.: one at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada, and the other at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New
Mexico. Yucca Mountain is currently in mothballs, having been shut down in 2011
by the Obama administration before becoming operational. WIPP is accepting only
weapons-grade waste from nuclear devices that are being dismantled at the nearby
Pantex plant in Texas as required by the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
Electric utilities would be foolish to commit to any new nuclear generating
capacity when there are no existing options for the permanent disposal of the large
quantities of high-level radioactive waste they already have on hand from currentlyoperating reactors. New, high-technology nuclear reactor designs will elicit zero
interest from electric utilities until and unless the nuclear waste problem is solved.
The technical basis for securely storing the waste in a properly-designed and carefully constructed underground repository is well understood as a safe and routine
method for managing radionuclides to avoid potentially dire environmental consequences. Everyone else in the world is doing this. The lack of an operating nuclear
waste repository in the U.S. is strictly a political issue, and it will take some responsible political leadership to resolve it.
Nuclear electricity can make an enormous contribution toward displacing fossil
fuels with clean, sustainable energy that emits no GHG. The absence of a nuclear
waste repository is one of the main factors halting the development of additional
electrical power from advanced nuclear technology. In the context of addressing
climate change, this is just as irresponsible as building more coal-fired power plants
or buying more gas-guzzling vehicles. The establishment of an operational repository for high-level radioactive waste in the United States is a critical need, and
should be nothing less than a top national priority.
The idea of a secure underground repository for high-level nuclear waste dates
back to the beginnings of commercial nuclear power. Reactors were located relatively close to major cities to reduce the transmission losses inherent with long
power lines. Cold War military planners who got paid to be paranoid began wondering about possible Soviet nuclear attacks that didn’t necessarily target the centers of
major cities. What if they bombed the nearby nuclear power plants instead? A lot
more deadly radioactive fallout could be created by vaporizing the reactors, and if
the wind was blowing in the right direction, it would kill millions. There was little
that could be done about the reactors, but if a large inventory of transuranic-bearing,
spent fuel rods were stored at the power plant site and got vaporized as well, these
would add substantial amounts of additional radionuclides to the mushroom cloud
and make the fallout even deadlier. This scenario scared the daylights out of Cold
War planners, who recommended that high-level radioactive waste be removed
from populated areas such as major cities, and placed in a remote location instead.
Other motivations for placing the high-level radioactive waste deep underground
in a remote location include protecting the environment and keeping transuranicenriched spent fuel rods out of the hands of potential nuclear terrorists. It is also
important to note that the end of the Cold War has not ended the threat of nuclear
attack. The United States still has adversaries, including some non-state actors, who
might choose to use atomic weapons. Anyone with the technical acumen to acquire
12 Moving into the Energy Future
Two underground nuclear waste repositories exist in the U.S.: one at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada, and the other at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New
Mexico. Yucca Mountain is currently in mothballs, having been shut down in 2011
by the Obama administration before becoming operational. WIPP is accepting only
weapons-grade waste from nuclear devices that are being dismantled at the nearby
Pantex plant in Texas as required by the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
Electric utilities would be foolish to commit to any new nuclear generating
capacity when there are no existing options for the permanent disposal of the large
quantities of high-level radioactive waste they already have on hand from currentlyoperating reactors. New, high-technology nuclear reactor designs will elicit zero
interest from electric utilities until and unless the nuclear waste problem is solved.
The technical basis for securely storing the waste in a properly-designed and carefully constructed underground repository is well understood as a safe and routine
method for managing radionuclides to avoid potentially dire environmental consequences. Everyone else in the world is doing this. The lack of an operating nuclear
waste repository in the U.S. is strictly a political issue, and it will take some responsible political leadership to resolve it.
Nuclear electricity can make an enormous contribution toward displacing fossil
fuels with clean, sustainable energy that emits no GHG. The absence of a nuclear
waste repository is one of the main factors halting the development of additional
electrical power from advanced nuclear technology. In the context of addressing
climate change, this is just as irresponsible as building more coal-fired power plants
or buying more gas-guzzling vehicles. The establishment of an operational repository for high-level radioactive waste in the United States is a critical need, and
should be nothing less than a top national priority.
The idea of a secure underground repository for high-level nuclear waste dates
back to the beginnings of commercial nuclear power. Reactors were located relatively close to major cities to reduce the transmission losses inherent with long
power lines. Cold War military planners who got paid to be paranoid began wondering about possible Soviet nuclear attacks that didn’t necessarily target the centers of
major cities. What if they bombed the nearby nuclear power plants instead? A lot
more deadly radioactive fallout could be created by vaporizing the reactors, and if
the wind was blowing in the right direction, it would kill millions. There was little
that could be done about the reactors, but if a large inventory of transuranic-bearing,
spent fuel rods were stored at the power plant site and got vaporized as well, these
would add substantial amounts of additional radionuclides to the mushroom cloud
and make the fallout even deadlier. This scenario scared the daylights out of Cold
War planners, who recommended that high-level radioactive waste be removed
from populated areas such as major cities, and placed in a remote location instead.
Other motivations for placing the high-level radioactive waste deep underground
in a remote location include protecting the environment and keeping transuranicenriched spent fuel rods out of the hands of potential nuclear terrorists. It is also
important to note that the end of the Cold War has not ended the threat of nuclear
attack. The United States still has adversaries, including some non-state actors, who
might choose to use atomic weapons. Anyone with the technical acumen to acquire
12 Moving into the Energy Future