nuclear-news

USA’s nuclear waste dilemma

Nuclear dumping in SC a concern – – TheState.com, 7 Jan 2011, “……….The panel is expected to recommend to President Obama by mid-summer how to deal with the nuclear waste, which is growing as nuclear power plants continue to produce electricity. The U.S. has generated more than 70,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste — lethal material that, in some cases, doesn’t break down for thousands of years.

Alternatives to Yucca Mountain under consideration include:

• Leaving the waste at the nation’s power plants until a long-term disposal option is developed

• Developing an interim storage site until a permanent disposal ground can be built

• Upgrading a dump site in New Mexico that already takes certain types of toxic nuclear waste

• Reprocessing used commercial nuclear fuel, a practice that would, in theory, reduce the amount of waste

Environmentalists say reprocessing and interim storage are among their biggest concerns and key reasons why SRS could become a national dump site….

January 7, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes