Should the Yucca Mountain Nuclear waste Repository project proceed as planned? Discuss?

Question

Should the Yucca Mountain Nuclear waste Repository project proceed as planned? Discuss?

Answer 1

Yes.

The plan is very safe. Waste stored in that site will not contaminate air, water or soil. It will be safe.

Let me say that again. It will be safe.

If we do nothing, then waste will continue to be stored at nuclear plants EVEN IF THOSE PLANTS WERE SHUT DOWN FOREVER. That is less safe. It is pretty safe, but not as safe as the repository. And the waste will not simply be transported to the repository. It will be processed into a glassy solid that is not soluble in water and is not dangerously radioactive. This is much safer that the unprocessed form that is currently being stored at each power plant.

Answer 2

No, we should reprocess the spent fuel to make more fuel and increase the number of nuclear power plants to reduce green house gas emissions.

This is one of the few thinks that France has gotten right.  They generate most of their electrical power using nuclear energy and reprocess the spent fuel rods to recycle the uranium and plutonium.  Not surpisingly, their emissions of CO2 are much lower on a relative scale than most industrialized nations.