Yucca Mtn.- Where did we go wrong?

["Jerry Cohen" <jjcohen@PRODIGY.NET>]

    The National Waste Policy Act was not the beginning of efforts to deal

with nuclear waste. It really started in the 1950's when the AEC set up an

NAS committee to develop a policy. This NAS committee was composed almost

entirely of geological scientists (no Health Physicists, no nuclear

technologists, no radiation biologists). They predictably presumed that deep

underground burial was the only way to go, and apparently that nucwaste was

so hazardous that even its slightest release to the biosphere would result

in a catastrophe of unprecedented dimensions. Both presumptions were

erroneous nevertheless, from their assessment, policies and programs were

established that led to the Lyons, Kansas fiasco as well as subsequent

debacles, including Yucca Mtn.

    Concurrently, there were efforts, led by Charles Osterberg who for a

time directed the IAEA Marine Laboratories to explore Oceanic Disposal of

nucwaste. His studies showed that the practice would be safe , but they had

no political clout and their efforts were largely ignored. Several papers on

the efficacy of oceanic disposal (primarily by the Japanese and Europeans)

have appeared in the technical literature. IMHO, the "flagship" paper on the

subject was written  by our friend  Bernie Cohen  [Cohen, B.,"Ocean Dumping

of High Level Waste - An Acceptable Solution We Can Guarantee", Nuclear

Technology, 47:163, January, 1983]. Incidentally, the related Sandia work

was on "Subseabed" disposal and not really on ocean disposal which would

consist basically of :

(1) waste solidification and placement in suitable canisters. (2) transport

by sea to areas above deep oceanic trenches, and (3) releasing the canisters

to sink  to the seabed (> 15 km below the surface). Even under the most

pessimistic assumptions, no significantly harmful effect to the biosphere

would result.

    As to my contention about the national

laboratories/contractors/anti-nuke activists feeding at the public nucwaste

money trough, I still believe this  has been a major obstacle preventing sol

ution of the problem. Nobody wants to kill the goose that lays the golden

eggs. It may seem ridiculous to say so, but termination of "research

funding" might be a necessary precursor to arriving at a solution. After

working for 20 years at a national lab (LLNL), and another 20 years for a

contractor (SAIC), this insight is  based on my own personal observation. Of

course I could be wrong, but I see no other reasonable explanation for

what's been going on.



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