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U.S. Nuclear Waste Dump to Open in 2017
The U.S. Energy Department plans to open its Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada on March 31, 2017, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 3). The date — made public by congressional offices yesterday ahead of an expected DOE announcement today — is the first official date for operations produced in some time, AP reported. The new timeline calls for the department to apply for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license on June 30, 2008, receive construction authorization on Sept. 30, 2011, and complete construction on March 30, 2016. The dump would then be able to accept nuclear waste on March 31, 2017. “Our work will continue to based on sound science … The program now has reachable, definable target dates that will allow us to open Yucca Mountain as the nation’s repository for spent nuclear fuel,” Energy Department spokesman Craig Stevens said in a statement. “This is an ambitious schedule, but it’s nice to actually see a schedule. This is the most detailed schedule on Yucca Mountain that I have seen in recent memory,” said Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). More than 50,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste from power plants in 31 states is awaiting permanent storage, AP reported. The government is presently unable to meet its contractual obligation to take and store the waste. Nevada lawmakers have joined in opposition to the Yucca plan. “This timetable is a rosy scenario painted to please those desperate to see Yucca Mountain open for business,” said Representative Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.). “The proposed nuclear garbage dump at Yucca Mountain still faces serious obstacles before it can be licensed, including additional legal challenges from the state of Nevada” (Erica Werner, Associated Press/The Guardian, July 19).
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