The before and after imagery of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Facility in Japan speaks for itself.

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You don’t need to be a structural or nuclear engineer to see the extent of the damage.

For the CH'ers here in the US, you might want to consider contacting your Senators and Congressional Representative and urge them to call on President Obama and ask him to either stand by or reverse his decision to stop construction of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Disposal Site. 

DOE has spent an estimated $33.5 Billion on it so far and estimates range up to another $77 Billion to place it in service for the next 130 years.

I realize this is a controversial topic in view of the fact that we already have an out of control Federal Budget for 2011 that can't get passed, a planned trillion dollar deficit in the budget for 2012, and a National Debt climbing through $14.2 Trillion dollars that will take several generations to pay off…

Having said that we have well over 100 commercial nuclear power generating facilities here in the US.  All of them have storage pools on site that have been accumulating spent nuclear fuel rods since the reactors were built. 

Moving these spent fuel rods to permanent underground storage at Yucca Mountain would lessen the risk that people of Japan are now facing.

What's it worth?  You decide.

Take care,

V/R, Batch

I was in the weapons test business and a Weapons Office as well, so I'm familiar with many of the layered safety precautions taken in the transport, handling and storage of nuclear materials.  I've also been to some of the test ranges and flown over the rest in that area, so no... I don't have any particularly problem with the location of the repository, but it's a good question.

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The National Test Site, an area of which is shown above, lies less than 25 miles NE of the Yucca Mountain Radioactive Waste Repository.  BTW, those are craters from the underground tests in the photo above...  not mounds... 

Between 1951 and 1992 they conducted 1,021 nuclear detonations at NTS, of which 921 were underground.  It's my guess there are fractures all over hell and back in that area.  The depth of the facility is 800 feet above the water table and aquifers in that area.  Wikipedia has a fair writeup on the facility and its geology.

The SSTs and safe pots used to transport the spent fuel rods have some hefty specs that would resist the most severe impact collisions and the final storage containers are spec'd out with corrosion and breaching resistant properties to last for thousands of years...

Again, it's a trade off...  Do you want the spent nuclear fuel rods stored above ground at over 100 locations in the US, or well underground and sealed from the atmosphere?

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Well there's a couple "Ney" votes...  Any others?  The problem isn't going away...

I can understand the "Not in my back yard" syndrome, but there's no need to truck any additional nuclear waste here to Bremerton if you think that will make you feel any better. 

We've got plenty now and have been living with it since the 60s.  There are cooling pools filled with spent fuel rods from the reactors of boomers (SSBN nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines) overhauled or scrapped at Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard as well as from the CVNs (nuclear powered aircraft carriers) that have undergone refueling while going through overhaul.  The low level stuff is encased in steel and cement coffins then shipped to Hanford, WA for underground storage there.

I raised four kids here and three of them turned out normal and healthy.  The fourth was born with four legs...  but was ultimately diagnosed as a canine.

Take care,

V/R, Batch