[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
IEER's alternative to Yucca Mountain
"Lisa Ledwidge / IEER (by way of Lisa Ledwidge / IEER )" wrote:
> IEER PRESS RELEASE
>
> For immediate release
> For further information contact:
> Arjun Makhijani, 240-603-9648 cell
>
> Independent Institute Recommends Alternative Nuclear Waste Plan
> Safer and more environmentally sound than the proposed Yucca Mountain
> repository
>
> June 4, 2002; Takoma Park, Maryland -- An independent technical
> institute has offered an alternative approach to the management of
> spent nuclear fuel in the United States. The plan is safer and more
> environmentally sound than the plan to bury the country's high level
> radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The latter was endorsed
> by the Bush administration in February and voted on favorably by a
> majority of the U.S. House of Representatives last month.
>
> The institute's plan is printed below in its entirety.
>
> "Our plan, which is based on more than two decades of analysis and
> experience on radioactive waste management policy, includes the
> placement of spent fuel in hardened storage at or near the point of
> generation for a period of about 50 years. This would reduce the risk
> of large-scale catastrophe in case of a terrorist attack," explained
> Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author of the plan and president of the Institute
> for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) in Takoma Park, Maryland.
>
> "Meanwhile, ten years of scientific and engineering work would be
> undertaken, on questions like, 'What are the natural geologic
> conditions that retard the movement of radionuclides for long
> periods?'," Dr. Makhijani continued. "More basic research on various
> geologic settings is needed before sites can be scientifically
> screened. Site selection should not begin until this preliminary work
> has been done.”
>
> "The time to completion of disposal of spent fuel from existing
> reactors would be similar to that of the Yucca Mountain plan,” said
> Dr. Makhijani.
>
> "In my opinion, Yucca Mountain would not be a contender for a nuclear
> waste repository if the process were conducted on the technical
> merits,” said Dr. Makhijani. "In my considered opinion, of all the
> sites studied, Yucca is in most ways the worst from an environmental
> point of view.”
>
> "In light of the deficiencies of the Yucca Mountain site and the risks
> of transporting spent fuel without proper design and testing of casks,
> IEER has put forth a plan for nuclear waste management, with due
> consideration to terrorism risks, that would greatly reduce on-site
> risks and increase the likelihood of a far better repository program,"
> said Dr. Makhijani. "Our plan would have the benefit of greater
> public acceptance, especially if it were coupled with termination of
> the waste stream as nuclear power plant licenses expire."
>
> IEER is a non-profit organization in Takoma Park, Maryland, that
> provides the public and policy-makers with clear, thoughtful studies
> on a variety of energy and environmental issues. IEER has analyzed
> radioactive waste management policy for more than 20 years and has
> published numerous reports, books, and articles on the topic. See the
> IEER web site: www.ieer.org.
>
> -- 30 --
>
> Attachment
>
> IEER NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN
> June 4, 2002
>
> IEER advocates the following program be carried out by an institution
> that does not have the conflict of interest that the U.S. Department
> of Energy does, and under more stringent public health and
> environmental protection standards than those currently in effect:
>
> Interim Management
>
> Interim Hardened On-Site Storage (HOSS) (different from spent fuel
> pools and dry casks now used) should be used for all spent fuel that
> can be moved out of pools. Pool storage should be minimized. No new
> above-ground dry storage of the present varieties should be licensed.
> Current dry storage should be converted to HOSS. The federal
> government should pay for HOSS at closed power plant sites since it
> has defaulted on its obligation to begin taking the waste on January
> 31, 1998, and has large amounts of ratepayer money dedicated to waste
> management that it has not spent.
>
> Goals: Hardened On-Site Storage should be able to withstand most
> terrorist attacks without significant off-site releases. A second
> level goal is to prevent catastrophic off-site releases in case of
> even severe attacks. There could be defense in depth as part of the
> system.
>
> The technology to accomplish HOSS is available.
>
> Interim Hardened On-Site Storage (HOSS) should meet the following
> criteria:
>
> 1. It should not result in catastrophic releases resist almost all
> types of attacks. The amount of releases projected in even severe
> attacks should be small enough that the storage system would be
> unattractive as a terrorist target.
>
> 2. It should be able to withstand a direct hit by a large commercial
> airliner full of fuel or anti-tank weapons without catastrophic
> offsite releases.
>
> 3. The individual canister locations should not be easily detectable
> from offsite.
>
> On-site storage would be needed for about 50 to 60 years -- not much
> different from what is projected to occur at present.
>
> Long-term Management
>
> The long-term repository plan should proceed as follows:
>
> Ten years of the following scientific and engineering work:
>
> 1. Research on natural geologic conditions that retard the movement of
> radionuclides for long periods.
> 2. Development of materials that mimic these natural geologic
> conditions ("Natural analog" materials).
> 3. Research on geologic environment types that would match the
> characteristics of these natural analogs.
> 4. Intensified basic scientific research on the properties of the most
> important radionuclides under a variety of laboratory conditions.
>
> After this initial work, the process of selecting two or three
> repository and natural analog types would be initiated for
> concentrated work (10 years). Then site selection (10 years).
>
> If the process is sound, disposal could in principle happen in the
> twenty years to follow. The total time for complete disposal of fuel
> from existing power plants (40 year license) would be roughly 50
> years, maybe sixty. If the power plants are closed down the overall
> timetable would not be longer than envisioned for Yucca Mountain now.
>
> End attachment
>
> Lisa Ledwidge
> Outreach Director, United States, and Editor of Science for Democratic
> Action
> Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)
> 2104 Stevens Ave. South | Minneapolis, MN 55404 USA
> tel. 1-612-879-7517 | fax 1-612-879-7518 | ieer@ieer.org |
> http://www.ieer.org
>
> IEER's main office: 6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 204 | Takoma Park, MD
> 20912 USA | tel. 1-301-270-5500 | fax 1-301-270-3029
>
> to read or add files use this url:
> http://www.egroups.com/group/nix-mox
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> nix-mox-unsubscribe@onelist.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
--
Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr
Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583 or 609-601-8537;
ncohen12@comcast.net UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE:
http://www.unplugsalem.org/ COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE:
http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org The Coalition for Peace and
Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you;
Then you win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?" (Mary Chapin
Carpenter)
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/