What happened to Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository?

But the site met with strong opposition in Nevada, including from then-Senate leader Harry Reid. Under President Donald Trump, the DOE ceased deep borehole and other non–Yucca Mountain waste disposition research activities.

What is the current status of the Yucca Mountain project?

On The Ground Accomplishments: Today the Yucca Mountain site has been abandoned and nothing exists but a boarded up exploratory tunnel; there are no waste disposal tunnels, receiving and handling facilities, and the waste containers and transportation casks have yet to be developed.

What was wrong with Yucca Mountain?

These issues include hydrology, inadequacy of the proposed waste package, repository design and volcanism. The Yucca site is seismically and volcanically active, porous and incapable of geologically containing the waste.

How much nuclear waste could be stored at Yucca Mountain?

It is statutorily limited to containing 70,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste, unless a second repository opens during its operational lifetime.

Does Yucca Mountain still have nuclear waste?

Currently, most of the waste for which the Yucca Mountain repository was designed is stored throughout the country at commercial nuclear power plants; there is a smaller amount of the waste at Department of Energy facilities.

Who pays for Yucca Mountain?

Some estimates put the cost as high as $50 billion. The funds come from the so-called Judgment Trust, which is funded by tax payers.

Is it a good idea to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain?

WASHINGTON, DC– Yucca Mountain in Nevada, designated over 30 years ago to store spent nuclear fuel, continues to be the safest solution to this national issue.

Who shut down Yucca Mountain?

The Obama administration’s rushed efforts to shut down Yucca Mountain were strictly political and could set back the opening of a nuclear waste repository by more than 20 years, according to a new report by a federal watchdog.

Is Yucca Mountain federal land?

Yucca Mountain is located on Federal land in Nye County in southern Nevada, approximately 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Las Vegas.

Is Yucca Mountain on a fault line?

Rock samples from deep within Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, showed that the fault runs directly beneath the site where the US federal government planned to store 70,000 tonnes of highly radioactive waste.

What is the Yucca Mountain Repository?

The Yucca Mountain repository is the proposed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository where both types of radioactive waste could be disposed. If constructed, it would use a tunnel complex approximately 1000 feet below the top of Yucca Mountain and about 1000 feet above the aquifer underlying the repository.

What was the Department of energy contract for Yucca Mountain?

^ “DOE Awards $3 Million Contract to Oak Ridge Associated Universities for Expert Review of Yucca Mountain Work”. United States Department of Energy. March 31, 2006. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010.

Is the Yucca Mountain safety plan doomed?

“Yucca Mountain safety plan is ‘doomed,’ nuclear company says”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 27, 2010. ^ a b “Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste to Yucca Mountain: Frequently Asked Questions” (PDF).

How much did the DOE spend on Yucca Mountain?

Under President Donald Trump, the DOE ceased deep borehole and other non–Yucca Mountain waste disposition research activities. For FY 18, the DOE requested $120 million and the NRC $30 million from Congress to continue licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain Repository.