Site selection and regulatory basis for the Yucca Mountain disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

Is Yucca Mountain a long-term solution for disposing of US spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste?

On 26 January 2012, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future released a report addressing, amongst other matters, options for the managing and disposal of high-level waste and spent fuel. The Blue Ribbon Commission was not chartered as a siting commission. Accordingly, it did not evaluate Yucca Mountain or any other location as a potential site for the storage or disposal of spent...

Unsaturated flow modeling in performance assessments for the Yucca Mountain disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

This paper summarizes the progression of modeling efforts of infiltration, percolation, and seepage conducted between 1984 and 2008 to evaluate feasibility, viability, and assess compliance of a repository in the unsaturated zone for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Scientific understanding of infiltration in a desert environment, unsaturated percol...

Hazards and scenarios examined for the Yucca Mountain disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

This paper summarizes various hazards identified between 1978 when Yucca Mountain, located in arid southern Nevada, was first proposed as a potential site and 2008 when the license application to construct a repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste was submitted. Although advantages of an arid site are many, hazard identification and scenario development have generally...

Conceptual model for small-volume alkali basalt petrogenesis: implications for volcanic hazards at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository

Today, 31 countries operate ∼ 450 nuclear power reactors supplying electric power to ∼ 1 billion people,∼ 15% of the world population. Nuclear reactors generate∼ 17% of global electric power needs and a number of industrialized countries depend on nuclear power for at least half of their electricity. In addition, ∼ 30 nuclear power reactors are presently under construction worldwide (Macfarlane...

Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (doe/eis-0250d-s) Formal Response Submitted by Clark County, Nevada