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New York Times: Follow the Science on Yucca

Submitted by helios on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 15:26
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When do you know your energy policy is on precarious footing? If you are Barack Obama, it is when your most trusted rubber stamp media voice is also calling your bluff.

New York Times Editorial: Follow the Science on Yucca

The administration’s budget for the Energy Department raises a disturbing question. Is President Obama, who has pledged to restore science to its rightful place in decision making, now prepared to curtail the scientific analyses needed to determine whether a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada would be safe to build?...

...Before approving this truncated budget, Congress needs to ensure that it contains enough money to sustain a genuine licensing effort. We have no idea whether Yucca Mountain would be a suitable burial ground for nuclear wastes. But after the government has labored for more than two decades and spent almost $10 billion to get the site ready for licensing hearings, it would be foolish not to complete the process with a good-faith evaluation. Are Mr. Obama and Mr. Reid afraid of what the science might tell them?

Read the whole thing.

 

Crossposted at Conservatives for Science

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Comments

Yucca Mountain is perfectly safe

Submitted by Freedoms Truth on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 18:25.

 

Yucca Mountain is perfectly safe. Science is beyond clear. We have felled whole forests to write acre-feet of engineering reports on the matter.

Throwing Yucca mountain under the bus, and throwing nuclear energy policies into a state of confusion, and ignoring the real facts and catering to unfounded fears and misguided hype, is pandering at its worst.

 

I believe...

Submitted by Paleo-Skeptic on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 05:37.

... that the Columbia River project is much more promising.

Yucca Mountain is more of the same, using the old technology on an even larger scale.

Columbia River is a new technology.  I think a handful of smaller plants would have been better than one big one, but there it is. 

Conservatives for science - a nuclear solution

Submitted by Freedoms Truth on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 12:46.

 

I am not sure what you mean by Columbia River. Hydro? Nuclear?

But generally, to shun a needed working answer for a bright shiny futuristic object is a mistake. The good is the enemy of the best and all that.

Do Yucca NOW, and realize that we will NEVER actually store nuclear used fuel for as long as we think. Once it cools off, its a valuable resource! (that means about 100 years)

Here is my solution to our energy needs:

- Lead-cooled nuclear reactors that are 5GW thermal/2.4GW electric, they would be more efficient and cost effective and would have safety and operation profiles better than current nukes. They could 'eat' any actinides and a process/nuclear fuel recycling flow could be put in place to reduce nuclear waste by 100X.

Very futuristic. They dont exist and would require 30yrs development to put in place. Once in place though, we have a 100% solution to our energy needs.

What I mean is...

Submitted by Paleo-Skeptic on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 18:43.

... that Yucca Mountain holds liquid water, supposedly 50,000 years.

The Columbia River project is to spin the water into glass logs so that the waste can be stored as a solid.  Much safer than storing liquids.

But spinning water into glass isn't the magic part.  The magic part is cost-plus bidding and expecting it to come in on time.  I've talked to some people that have worked on that project, and I wouldn't want to be around at start-up. 

the seventh sign?

Submitted by chemjeff on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 12:59.

Wow.  A NY Times editorial criticizing Obama?  I didn't think I would see the day.  Armageddon must be near.

Yucca Mountain is perfectly

Submitted by Chris Brown on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 01:53.

Yucca Mountain is perfectly safe but Columbia River project is much more promising. as you can do lots there and i have some tips to share through which you can come out from your energy problems that i will set here after my ase certification exams i think Yucca Mountain is more of the same, using the old technology on an even larger scale to come out form energy problems. on the other you can store solid by putin water into glass logs then storing liquid last year i was doing ccie training then one of my freind write project on how we can come out from energy problems that is quite efficitve i would like to share with you here. and as well as Barack Obama concern he can deal with this matter easily.