yucca mountain and nuclear waste:
DESCRIPTION
Yucca Mountain and Nuclear Waste:. Gambling with the future of the human race. This is Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Scary Facts. Radiation from the bombs dropped on Hiroshima killed __________ people in a year. Scary Facts. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Scary facts
When full, Yucca Mountain
Will be ____________ more
radioactive than the bomb
dropped on Hiroshima
Scary facts
When full, Yucca Mountain
Will be _1,400,000_ more
radioactive than the bomb
dropped on Hiroshima
Scary facts
Radiation from the
meltdown at Chernobyl
nuclear plant was traced
as far as ___________.
Scary facts
Radiation from the
meltdown at Chernobyl
nuclear plant was traced
as far as North America.
To Recap: Yucca Mountain will be:
1,400,000 times more radioactive than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Home for the waste from 130 “Chernobyls”
80 miles from a major metropolis
What is nuclear waste? Nuclear Waste, or spent nuclear fuel, is the rods of uranium pellets that are no longer useful in nuclear reactors, but remain highly radioactive for tens of thousands of years, possibly more
Also some waste from weapons research and testing
1) Geologically/ecologically hazardous
2) Dangers of transportation/security
3) Suspect motives of those endorsing the project
4) Perpetuates cycle of nuclear power
4 Reasons:
Geological Hazards Earthquakes
Third most seismically active area in the U.S.
Located above an active magma pocket
Leaching of radioactive materials into water table
A touch of irony A June 1992 earthquake coming in at 5.2 on the Richter scale caused more than $1 million in damage to the U.S. Department of Energy building located just 6 miles from the Yucca mountain site
Transportation Dangers Highly toxic materials will be on trucks and trains traveling thousands of miles across the country
The routes are very public Terrorist dangers Risks of purely accidental incidents (i.e. crashes, derailings)
Security Dangers Material is extremely dangerous to humans for more than 10,000 years
A terrorist “holy grail”? Accidental exposure?
Suspect Motives The Government has already spent $4-7 billion investigating the Yucca Mountain project
Nothing has been built yet Yucca mountain is the ONLY site that has been investigated