July/August 2009
Life after Yucca Mountain
Geologist Allison MacFarlane on the future of nuclear waste--and what it means for nuclear power.
By David Talbot
![]() |
| Credit: Chris Crisman |
In 1982, the U.S. government formally accepted the dirty job of finding a place to dispose of highly radioactive nuclear waste, including spent reactor fuel, which will remain radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Five years later, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Energy to begin seriously investigating a single site--Yucca Mountain, NV--as a permanent geological repository. But earlier this year, with 60,000 metric tons of spent fuel clogging storage facilities at power plants, the Obama administration announced that it would cut Yucca's funding and seek alternatives.
![]() | Select from the choices above to read the entire article. |
Customer Service
|
Magazine Services
|
Subscribe
|
Other
|
Advertise
|



