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The Fight for Yucca Mountain

The Fight for Yucca Mountain. By: Alex Klein Adam Rabb. What to do With Nuclear Waste, Who's Responsibility is it. The Nuclear Waste should be - stored in a stable location, below the surface - far away from major water sources and densely populated areas

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The Fight for Yucca Mountain

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  1. The Fight for Yucca Mountain By: Alex Klein Adam Rabb

  2. What to do With Nuclear Waste, Who's Responsibility is it • The Nuclear Waste should be - stored in a stable location, below the surface - far away from major water sources and densely populated areas • The waste is the responsibility of the national government, but states should have a say in what is done with it Why??: • The federal government funds most of the nuclear energy processes • the storage is a national problem, rather than just dealing with states • if the waste has to be transferred from state to state, it involves the national government not just the state government • part of constitution, federal government regulates interstate commerce and activities

  3. National Government- right or wrong in choosing Yucca Mountain…. • The National government was right because: • if the nuclear waste is left at the sight, it is worse because the site is not meant to carry a large amount of waste • The Yucca Mountains are very unpopulated, there are no people living immediately around them • The Mountains are a good distance away from Las Vegas • By Storing the waste below surface, there is less of a chance of radioactive exposure • The waste is to be stored 1000 feet above the water table, and therefore will not contaminate the water

  4. National Government- right or wrong in choosing Yucca Mountain….(cont.) • The nuclear waste will be kept in very secure containers, it will be held in a multilayer stainless steel and nickel alloy package, covered by titanium drip shields that function also as rock shields. • The federal government has spent seven billion (which has made the Yucca Mountains the most studied piece of geology in the world) dollars on implementing the Yucca Mountain facility, studying the local geology of the Mountain, and getting the facility ready for the 2020 deadline.

  5. NIMBY effect • NIMBY stands for: Not In My Back Yard • People support certain ideas and potentially environmentally unfriendly projects until they come close to home and start to have negative effects on them personally • the US government has not conducted an experiment to examine what safety precautions might be needed

  6. Nevada’s Opinion • Nevada is against the use of the Yucca Mountains, but with only 3 electoral votes, they have very little say in what happens • A two-thirds majority of Nevadans still feel it is unfair for their state to have to store nuclear waste when there are no nuclear power plants in Nevada • Many Nevadans' opposition stemmed from the so-called "Screw Nevada Bill," the 1987 legislation halting study of Hanford and Texas as potential sites for the waste before conclusions could be met

  7. Why the Federal Government is so interested in Yucca Mountains • Yucca Mountains are away from the major cities and placed in a very desolate and unpopulated area • Having 3 electoral votes also gives them very little say and makes it easier for the federal government to impose its will • In comparison, South California, has more power and electoral votes and therefore is waging a war on capital hill to restrict the movement and placement of nuclear waste in their state

  8. Nevada’s Opposition • Governor Jim Gibbons vetoed the bill to go forth with using the Yucca Mountains as a dumping ground • To help finance Nevada's anti-Yucca battle, Governor Kenny Guinn has established the Nevada Protection Fund. The Fund so far totals over $6 million: the 2001 Nevada Legislature appropriated $4 million • Guinn said "Nevada's fight to keep nuclear waste from coming to Yucca Mountain has been going on for 20 years.“ • The governors have also looked for support from other states and organizations outside of Nevada, and have found it in such states as South Carolina Governor Kenny Guinn Governor Jim Gibbons

  9. Response of the Federal Government • The federal government has ignored the efforts to block the progress on the Yucca Mountain Nuclear facility • The veto of Nevada’s governor was overridden by the House with a vote of 306 to 117 • The federal government hired very respected law firms to make sure that everything goes accordingly

  10. South Carolina Response to Nuclear Waste Problem • South Carolina has take a more aggressive approach • Governor Jim Hodges staged a mock roadblock, saying publicly that he would stand in the path of federal trucks if that is what it takesthis type of act had not been committed since Alabama governor George Wallace stood in front of a school house, not letting a black student in • The South Carolina Representative, John Spratt, said “The governor says he wants an exit strategy, I also want an entrance strategy” • South Carolina has more political power and can get more of their actions implemented Governor Jim Hodges

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