February 17, 2008

As Nuclear Waste Languishes, Expense to U.S. Rises - New York Times

Stupid is as stupid does. We have an irrational national policy regarding waste disposal from nuclear facilities. We have this multi-billion dollar boondoggle at Yucca Mountain Nevada which seems likely never to open. Meanwhile a country like France who produces 70+% of its electricity from nuclear reactors and reprocesses the waste fuel.

Certainly there is low-level radioactive waste to be disposed of, but reprocessing the spent fuel seems the rational solution and the concern of most environmentalists.

The sad reality is that anti-nuclear environmental forces are behind most of the delays and lawsuits at Yucca Mountain. No one has proposed a solution to their roadblocks. Reprocessing would seem the best hope for a long-term resolution to the impasse.

Meanwhile, plan B for Yucca Mountain could be to create a tourist destination for visitors to Las Vegas!

What a fiasco. I am embarrassed for our country when this sort of mess is allowed to develop and fester.

As Nuclear Waste Languishes, Expense to U.S. Rises - New York Times

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