Nature Magazine editorial on Yucca cancellation

[bananas]

"Lawmakers originally chose Yucca Mountain on the basis of Nevada's low population and political vulnerability, leaving scientists to find a justification after the fact. But much of what the researchers found undercut the decision."

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7234/full/458008b.html

Editorial
Nature 458, 8 (5 March 2009) | doi:10.1038/458008b; Published online 4 March 2009

Advice needed
The Obama administration should ensure that science informs the US strategy on nuclear waste.

The fall from grace of Yucca Mountain as the site for a giant government nuclear-waste repository has been a long time coming. Ever since it was named as the sole site for the final disposal of high-level waste in 1987, political opposition has been growing, as has the population of nearby Las Vegas.

That opposition found strength in the weakness of the scientific case for the repository. Lawmakers originally chose Yucca Mountain on the basis of Nevada's low population and political vulnerability, leaving scientists to find a justification after the fact. But much of what the researchers found undercut the decision. The seemingly quiet desert around the mountain went through a spate of volcanic activity as recently as 75,000 years ago, and although the region seems dry, rain seeps surprisingly quickly through fissures in the rock.

These facts have eroded the once-solid political case for Yucca, and, together with questions of data integrity and technical independence, created a climate favourable to its cancellation. This year, with Barack Obama as president and Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada) as Senate majority leader, the project could well be dealt a final blow.

<snip>

That process will take those nations years to complete, and it could take even longer in the decentralized US political system. But as the 20-year, $9.5-billion Yucca Mountain experiment proved, choosing political expedience over scientific integrity will ultimately lead to a solution that satisfies no one.

[pnwmom]

1. Unfortunately, there is no good alternative. Washington state has one of

the other top 3 sites (2 besides Yucca Mt.), and it is near a major river, the Columbia.