published by WISE News Communique on December 10, 1999
The US Department of Energy has proposed a new design for Yucca Mountain. Scientists also have said that groundwater could be pumped for the Yucca Mountain project without harming neighbors’ water supplies. Further, the NRC has criticized the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of the DOE. Lastly, the American Public Health Association has prepared a resolution declaring Yucca Mountain unsuitable.
(522.5121) WISE Amsterdam – The Department of Energy’s proposal for a new design for the high-level nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain would add more than US$1 billion to the estimated cost. The latest scenario is designed to keep the repository cool by keeping it open for 125 years. Yucca Mountain is not expected to open until 2010.
According to engineers the storage area inside the mountain will need to be a third larger than originally proposed to keep the repository below the boiling point. The new proposal also would require a giant ventilation system to help cool the mountain. Under the new proposal, the heat produced by the radioactivity would cool over time, and the rock has a better chance of remaining intact, preventing radiation from escaping from the mountain. Scientist do not know what will happen over thousands of years as high-level radioactive wastes heat up Yucca Mountain’s volcanic ash layers; if the heat would crack the rock, water might enter the repository and corrode waste containers.
The DOE estimates that the new ventilation system would add US$5 to US$10 million a year to the cost of operating the project for the 125 years. The extra expense would bring the total costs close to US$38 billion. The DOE fears that if the Yucca Mountain project becomes too expensive, US Congress could reject it.
Also the DOE hired scientists to research the geologic features of the area to show that water rights are available and groundwater could be pumped for the Yucca Mountain project without harming the neighbors’ water supplies. The DOE needs the permanent rights to the ground water before it can request a license from the NRC, something that is not expected to happen before 2002. It currently has temporary ground water rights.
In a preliminary review the NRC has criticized a DOE study of impacts on Nevada from the high-level nuclear waste repository. The NRC is responsible for licensing a repository in Yucca Mountain. In August this year the DOE released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (see also WISE News Communique 516.5069: “US: YuccaMountain draft EIA”). This statement must include a specific analysis of potential harm, such as effects of a massive project on property owners and land values, preferred routes and means of transportation. According to the analysis of the NRC staff, the DOE failed to consider all possible effects to those living near Yucca Mountain. The DOE also ignored federal agencies, Nevada officials, local governments and Native American Indian tribes to hear their concerns. The DOE plans to consider all comments it receives before issuing a final impact statement in November 2000.
In October 1999, the American Public Health Association, a professional organization of more than 50,000 members, passed a resolution declaring the Yucca Mountain site unsuitable as a permanent repository for nuclear waste. Among others, the reasons for recommending disqualification of the site are:
- DOE studies show that surface water infiltration and groundwater contamination would take place in theYucca Mountain much more rapidly than previously thought.
- The rate of underground flow into the drinking and irrigation water of the adjacent Amargosa Valley meets the conditions for disqualification under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
- The transportation of high-level nuclear waste to the site would affect 43 states, putting 50 million people within one-half mile of the transportation routes at risk for exposure to potential high levels of radiation when inevitable accidents occur.
Sources:
- Press release, Nevada Public Health Association, 19 October 1999
- Associated Press, 16 November
- Las Vegas Sun, 18 and 19 November 1999
Contact: American Public Health Association,
800 I Street, NW Washington, DC 20001-3710
Tel: +1-202-777-2742; Fax: +1-202-777-2532
E-mail: comments@apha.org