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Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Storage Facility Like California, Nevada has changed hands numerous times in its early history. Nevada was originally populated by the Paiute, Shoshoni, and Washo Native Americans. Nevada was claimed by Spain in the early 19 th century, although the Spanish only explored the most southern regions of Nevada near the Colorado River. In 1821, the Spanish gave up Nevada and California to Mexico, when Mexico won their independence from Spain. Mexico made the area that now contains California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona one state called Alta California. It is believed that there were no white settlers in Nevada until the California Gold Rush. Then on July 4, 1848, America won the Mexican-American War and received California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. These new lands were added to the U.S. and were referred to as Unorganized Territory. In 1850, Nevada was included as part of the Utah Territory. The first white settlements in Nevada were founded in 1851, close to present day Carson City by miners and Mormons. On March 2, 1861, Congress passed an act to organize the territory of Nevada. Nevada was admitted as a state on March 21 1861, despite the fact, it fell well short of the population required to form a state, with an estimated 21,000 residents (Swackhamer 103); because President Lincoln desperately needed three more votes in congress to pass the 13 th amendment. Nevada also allows Referendum and Initiatives. When Nevada was admitted as a free state this gave him the votes he needed. The Nevada state constitution had conditions placed on it in order for it to become a state since it did not meet the population requirement. Nevada was mandated that their state constitution must ban slavery and the taxing of any federal lands. The taxation of federal lands was a critical point since over 80% of Nevada land is owned by the Federal government through the Bureau of Land Management. The constitution also mandates the exact same length of terms for Senators and Assemblymen as California. Term limits were added to the constitution in 1966 for all elected branches of government. Another interesting fact about the constitution is, that although gambling is legal in Nevada, the state constitution expressly prohibits a state lottery. It is interesting to note that Nevada is a state with deep conservative Mormon roots, although they have become dependent on state taxes on gambling that make up 33% of the state revenue. Nevada has not rewritten their constitution since being made a state in 1864. The controversy surrounding nuclear waste disposal has been around since the Manhattan project. As time passes though, the problem is getting progressively more serious. There is currently an estimated 40,000 tons of deadly nuclear waste stored at 80 sites in 36 states rapidly that are reaching maximum capacity (Environment). This waste is estimated to remain deadly for hundreds of thousands of years. In 1982, congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, in response to this impending crisis. This act determined that spent fuel and radioactive waste would be shipped to a geological repository for permanent disposal, in 1987 Yucca Mountain was chosen as that repository. The Department of Energy (DOE) initially announced Yucca Mountain would be opened in 1998. That date has been postponed to at least until 2010 due to new environmental concerns. When the DOE originally chose Yucca Mountain, they thought they would be able to store the waste in thin walled drums in the mountain and no other precautions would be necessary. The DOE came to these preliminary conclusions due to the fact Yucca Mountain was right next to previous nuclear test sites, therefore there were no civilians and it was very remote. The nearest urban area is Las Vegas, 100 miles North-West of the site. Yucca Mountain also receives less then 6 inches of rainfall a year making it unlikely that that small of an amount of water could carry nuclear waste down 1000 feet to the water table. Since 1996, new research on Yucca Mountain has discovered many new problems with the site. Yucca Mountain is made up of volcanic rock called Tuff, originally thought ideal for shielding in radiation, although it has now been discovered that this rock is filled with many fractures that could channel water to the nuclear waste. Nearby dormant volcanoes and active fault lines have raised concerns about the safety of Yucca Mountain. In response to these new concerns the DOE has announced it will store the waste in specially designed double walled cylinders. These cylinders have been tested to be able to survive a 30' drop, 30 minutes in a fire, a puncture test, submersion test, and they were even tested in mock truck accidents. The tests were done by a congressional research committee that concluded the chance of an accident at Yucca Mountain or in transport to, were extremely low (Environment). As a precaution against moisture entering the storage area and carrying waste away or corroding the containers, the DOE has built a titanium dome over the waste. Nuclear waste naturally produces heat greater then the boiling point of water. The storage facility will be maintained at this temperature by the waste itself creating an environment where any water will be evaporated. This heat will also cause the titanium shield to be very hot also assisting in helping to evaporate any water. Outside concerns over just how well Yucca Mountain can contain this waste, is the responsibility of transferring 40,000 tons of nuclear waste to the site. Critics site that accidents cannot be completely prevented and the chance of sabotage by a terrorist far outweigh any advantages of the Yucca Mountain facility. The containers being used by DOE for transport have been proven safe; in terms of a terrorist threat, it will be much easier to defend one location than 70 spread out across 36 states. When congress passed the Nuclear Waste Act they legally bound the DOE to store this waste. If the DOE does not do it, the U.S. government will be financially liable. On top of that political issue, the Nevada public and politicians are fighting under the cause of NIMBY very hard to prevent Yucca Mountain from accepting waste, although, it is important to note that Yucca Mountain is on federal land and since the issue of nuclear waste disposal is a federal issue, the Nevada government has no jurisdiction over Yucca Mountain. Therefore, if the federal government opens Yucca Mountain, Nevada cannot close it, even if a bill is passed forbidding its construction or opening. California is no stranger to nuclear waste disposal controversy. In 1988 a very large controversy broke out in Livermore, California. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) wanted to build an incinerator to dispose of nuclear waste from its own nuclear weapons research. The move to build the incinerator was brought about by the fact that storing their waste off site was getting very expensive and they did not have the means to store it on site. These are the exact reasons why Yucca Mountain is considered to be needed so badly. Unlike Yucca Mountain with a population of zero, Livermore is home to over 50,000 people. The proximity to such a large population dramatically lowers the acceptable levels of toxicity allowed. The presence of a population also allowed there to be a grass roots opposition in place before construction was even started. The group in Livermore was Citizens Against a Radioactive Environment. These activists were able to organize strong local protests and raise money for research they could use to stop the incinerator construction. The purpose of the incinerator was to safely destroy 90% of the waste and have to transport only 10% of residue left over from the process. Proponents of the incinerator were quick to point out that their incinerator was projected to release less than .01% of the total waste burned into the air (Gusterson). Opponents of the incinerator point to a recent Toxic waste spill at LNLL that they claim proves the incinerator cannot be run 100% accident free. Ultimately, plans to build the incinerator were scrapped by LNLL. Unlike the LNLL project, I think the Yucca Mountain project will be executed. There are key differences between the opposition to each project. The easiest one to see is population size. Since no one lives anywhere near Yucca Mountain there is no one to shout NIMBY or to raise economic issues. There are also not any activists groups with a particular interest in that site. On the other hand there are many strong national activist groups in support of opening Yucca Mountain, most of them are owners of nuclear power or research facilities. The fact that the majority of the nation wants Yucca Mountain to open is going to far outweigh any protests from even the entire population of Nevada shouting, “NIMBY!” Most importantly this issue is going to be decided at the federal level and the people of Nevada have very little control over what happens at that level. |