Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

SUN EDITORIAL:

Inviting a disaster

Arrogance in push for nuclear power shows through in Yucca Mountain plan

The tragedy at the nuclear power plant in Japan has raised concerns about the safety of nuclear power, as it rightly should. Japanese officials are dealing with the potential meltdown of three reactors and the release of a significant amount of radiation. For the first few days, the focus was on the safety of the reactors, but by late last week, people were also talking about the danger of radiation coming from spent fuel rods in cooling pools next to the reactors.

The spent fuel rods have attracted the attention of some nuclear power advocates in the United States. They say the situation in Japan demonstrates the need to remove waste from reactor sites, and they think they have the answer — revive the Yucca Mountain project.

After taking office, President Barack Obama followed through on his campaign promise and moved to put an end to the flawed project. But the nuclear industry won’t let go. For decades it has pushed the dangerous plan to turn Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into a nuclear waste dump.

Raising concern about waste in the cooling pools is the latest disingenuous argument used by nuclear supporters in Congress. It’s not an “issue” — it’s a red herring.

The truth is that a dump wouldn’t lessen the need for cooling pools. When spent fuel is removed from a reactor, it is transferred to a cooling pool — where it sits for five years or more because it’s too hot to be anywhere else.

After sitting for years, the rods can be taken out of the water and put into robust protective containers called dry casks. The massive casks, often made of concrete and steel, shield radiation from escaping while allowing the rods to further cool. The casks can be safely stored on the nuclear plant site out of the reactor building — as they have been in Japan.

It has been clear for decades that the United States doesn’t need to waste billions more pursuing badly flawed plans to make Yucca Mountain a nuclear waste dump.

Yucca Mountain is a scientific nonstarter. Congress chose Nevada as the home to the nation’s nuclear waste for political reasons — not scientific ones. It is a terrible place to put nuclear waste. Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the nation, and Yucca Mountain is in an area prone to earthquakes. And its name is deceiving. It isn’t a stout mountain — it’s a porous volcanic ridge.

If that weren’t bad enough, consider that the nuclear industry wants to haul 77,000 tons of deadly radioactive waste across the country on trucks, trains and barges past much of the country’s population, putting millions of people at risk.

However, the nuclear industry says there’s no reason to worry. In fact, it has criticized people who have raised legitimate concerns about Yucca Mountain, saying should there be any problem, it would be small and mitigated by safeguards in place.

But it has said the same kind of things about nuclear power plants. They’ve brushed aside concerns about reactor problems and natural disasters. Two weeks ago, they would have scoffed at anyone who would have suggested the scenario that has unfolded in Japan. It was too improbable.

The arrogance of the nuclear industry and its supporters in Congress is galling. Real danger is posed by nuclear energy, and the consequences of an accident are tragic. But the industry has been willing to risk people’s safety by pursuing its plans. Yucca Mountain is a perfect example.

It’s not worth the risk to put nuclear waste in a place unsuited for it. Doing so would only be inviting disaster.

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