The total cost of dumping nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain repository will hit $96.2 billion, the Department of Energy estimated Tuesday. The estimate has jumped 38 percent, excluding inflation, since 2001. And it assumes no new construction of nuclear reactors; to put that in perspective, John McCain is pushing for the U.S. to build up to 45 new nuclear plants by 2030. The Energy Department ambitiously assumes that Yucca will begin accepting waste in 2020, continue through 2070, and close in 2113. It also estimates that the site could take in as much as 122,000 tons of nuclear waste, even though Congress has limited Yucca's capacity to 77,000 tons. About 64,000 tons of used reactor fuel is already chillin' at 121 temporary sites across the U.S., and more than 2,000 tons are added each year.
source: Associated Press, Reuters, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success
‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science
Comments
View as Threaded
GreyFlcn Posted 2:35 pm
05 Aug 2008
Permalink
vakibs Posted 2:39 am
06 Aug 2008
And last I checked, if we expanded into a "Nuclear only world" we'd need 9 of these things by the end of the century.
Oops. A nuclear-only world would need 0 of these repositories.
Please educate yourself on breeder reactors. There are a multitude of designs available.
Permalink
Masked Goddess Posted 6:33 am
06 Aug 2008
I suppose you would need tens of thousands of pages trying to prove it could be stored without harming the Earth and all her inhabitants.
Since George W gave his blessing, why not just store it on his ranch in Crawford?
Permalink
GRLCowan Posted 7:00 am
06 Aug 2008
Permalink
mtvyfan Posted 12:15 am
07 Aug 2008
Permalink