Should President Trump Reopen Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository?

I have not seen any videos or news reports on this topic. The nation is in dire need of somewhere to put our spent nuclear fuel, obsolete nuclear warheads and various other radioactive materials that need a ten thousand year repository. Ideally, we need a transport system to the sun that could take nuclear waste and inject it into the sun. Until then, we will have to store it somewhere, safely.

Yucca Mountain - Wikipedia

The project was approved in 2002 by the United States Congress, but Federal funding for the site ended in 2011 under the Obama Administration via amendment to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, passed on April 14, 2011.[2] The project has had many difficulties and was highly contested by the general public, the Western Shoshone peoples, and many politicians.[3] The Government Accountability Office stated that the closure was for political, not technical or safety reasons.[2]

[Wikipedia]

I believe the closure was for political reasons by Obama. I also believe that we have the technology to create underground facilities to withstand earthquakes up to 9.7 (Richter).

My opinion is that we need to reopen and complete the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository. I am hoping that President Trump will reopen the facility, finish it with the technical upgrades needed, and start storing our waste there.

How do you feel about reopening the facility? I would certainly like to hear the pros and cons...

a reply to: NightFlight

I say we launch our nuclear waste into space.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

Only if you can be, with absolute 100% certainty, sure it won't some day come back.

There should be some way to render it inert cheaply, and that should be a point of emphasis for the DoE.

a reply to: NightFlight

A few years ago I had a short lived fascination with nuclear power.

I encourage anyone that reads this to take it with more than a grain of salt....

But I recall reading about how each new generation of nuclear power plants are able to create power from the used materials from the previous generation of power plants.

My initial reaction is to see if it is at all feasible to reuse/repurpose all of these obsolete or otherwise unwanted radioactive materials.

a reply to: seagull

Only if you can be, with absolute 100% certainty, sure it won't some day come back.

Aim it at the sun? Or a black hole.

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: ColdWisdom

Only if you can be, with absolute 100% certainty, sure it won't some day come back.

There should be some way to render it inert cheaply, and that should be a point of emphasis for the DoE.

The transports would have to have a magnetic type containment and a propulsive way to "shoot" the waste towards the sun while the transport is positioned safely away.

originally posted by: eluryh22
a reply to: NightFlight

A few years ago I had a short lived fascination with nuclear power.

I encourage anyone that reads this to take it with more than a grain of salt....

But I recall reading about how each new generation of nuclear power plants are able to create power from the used materials from the previous generation of power plants.

My initial reaction is to see if it is at all feasible to reuse/repurpose all of these obsolete or otherwise unwanted radioactive materials.

I read somewhere that each time nuclear fuel is used in a reactor the fuel became more radioactive. After three times in a breeder reactor, the fuel, which is plutonium by now, is too radioactive to handle and can't be stored in the usual lead and concrete vessels. It really is a Pandora's box...

a reply to: NightFlight
Yes, the Yucca Mountain Repository should be revisited. It appears it is a workable, long term nuclear waste storage solution.

reply to: ColdWisdom

I say we launch our nuclear waste into space.

You are joking right?

My question still is: Would you want the Yucca Mountain Facility reopened?

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: NightFlight

I say we launch our nuclear waste into space.

As much as I want to say The Simpsons did it, it was Futurama Season 1 Episode 8, A Big Piece of Garbage.

I remember reading a story where the space navy used old or unneeded ships to tow barges of waste into the sun.

But yes, reopen the place.

a reply to: NightFlight

It should certainly be looked at.

I don't like the idea of long term storage like that, because eventually it's going to leak.

Hanford, Washington comes quickly to mind.

a reply to: seagull
Hanford desperately needs cleaning and the place to put it in my opinion, is Yucca. There is some very nasty waste leaking and leaching into the environment at Hanford. Hanford has served its purpose and needs to be completely shut down and the waste safely shipped to Yucca Mountain as soon as possible.

a reply to: NightFlight

I live about an hour'ish away from Hanford. It's been a concern, at least locally, for decades. You're right, Yucca would be a good temporary place to store it.

But merely storing it, isn't really a long term, OK, very long term, solution. Eventually everything leaks. But until a viable permanent solution is found--like reusing it, as eluryh22 mentioned--Yucca mountain is workable.

We are currently debating here in South Australia as to whether we open a nuclear dump in our outback.

News article

Apparently we have the best (most isolated and geographically stable) place in the world to open one.



And given that the state is larger than Alabama/ Mississippi / Arkansas / Missouri / Kansas and Oklahoma combined with a population of only about 2,000,000, 98% of whom live in Adelaide or near the coast it's a pretty good place to consider the idea really.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

With current technology extremely costly and if any rocket explodes or has an accident well enjoy the gamma rays

If the technology works turn waste into diamond battery's.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: ColdWisdom


Ummm...I agree...on a direct intercept course...with the sun




YouSir

a reply to: YouSir

Ummm...I agree...on a direct intercept course...with the sun

I am hoping that people are joking when they say that sending nuclear waste into space is an option, if not, this society is in serious trouble.

originally posted by: D8Tee
a reply to: YouSir

Ummm...I agree...on a direct intercept course...with the sun

I am hoping that people are joking when they say that sending nuclear waste into space is an option, if not, this society is in serious trouble.

I'm not joking, but the transport system has to be realistic and very safe. Take for example, one of the rather large triangles I have sighted, if it has transport capabilities it certainly could be used to convey nuclear waste very near the sun and safely propel it towards the sun. The waste would be consumed thousands of miles above the sun's surface and the atomic waste would filter down to the sun's surface. This of course is futuristic and I hope it is soon achieved.

a reply to: NightFlight

This of course is futuristic and I hope it is soon achieved.

Reinvestigating Yucca mountain is an option that should be explored. The people of Nevada don't want it, which presents political challenges. Launching nuclear waste into space is just not an option. Any politician that proposes funding for that research would never be reelected by an intelligent electorate.