Nuclear energy is an important energy source in today’s America with 98 reactors across several states, the waste produced by these reactors poses a serious problem for both the wellbeing of the ecosystem and the people residing within the United States. Nuclear power has been in use in America since the late 1950s. Since then, relatively few major accidents have occurred, most notably the Chernobyl Disaster in the Soviet Union and Three Mile Island in the United States. With almost a hundred reactors across the United States, this begs the question, where, and how, is nuclear waste disposed of? And what is in place in order to prevent environmental contamination by improperly stored waste? It is important that these questions are answered in order to better preserve the safety of American communities as well as important and ecosystems in which nuclear waste repositories are located in.
Nuclear power has been a part of American life since 1957 when the first American reactor opened in Pennsylvania. Today, nuclear power is an important facet of American life, with nuclear energy prevalent in the news as both an alternative to the burning of fossil fuels as well as a supplement to greener energy sources, essentially guaranteeing nuclear energies place in the next few decades of U.S. domestic policy. Despite high profile accidents, safety in nuclear reactors is the best it has ever been. However, what happens when radioactive material leaves the facility it’s used at. Today, American nuclear waste is kept in storage facilities near their reactors as there is not enough centralized storage resources available.This represents serious National Security issues as unsecured nuclear waste represents a large problem for today’s America to maintain security countermeasures. Requiring U.S. law enforcement and military personnel to maintain a presence at locations located in multiple different locations putting a strain on operational strength and logistics. As a result of these factors it is important for the United States to gain a centralized location as well as standardized storage for all of its nuclear waste in order to ensure the safety of millions of Americans.
Nuclear waste can be produced in any undertaking from mining projects all the way up to when the fuel is spent. So, with this much radioactive waste being created during the process where does it all go? In the past nuclear waste has been dumped in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by several major nuclear players around the world until 1982 when the final dump occurred off the European continent. According to Dominique Calmet in Oceanic Disposal of Radioactive Waste, “Although no high-level radioactive waste (HLW) has been disposed of into the sea, variable amounts of packaged low-level radioactive waste (LLW) have been dumped at more than 50 sites in the northern part of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. (Page 1)” This means that over the forty odd years of the dumping of nuclear waste in the oceans that almost no waste is a direct part of the process of nuclear fission and the dumpsites consist of low level byproduct. These byproducts represent a significantly smaller threat to American or environmental wellbeing. Despite the relative success of oceanic disposal, it was clear that this action could not be continued as the likelihood of a mishap slowly increases with the volume of waste present. Subsequently, other storage methods have been sought by many state and non-state actors worldwide. Among these storage facilities are several small sites across the U.S. in such states as Washington, Utah and Texas for the maintenance of low level radiation waste. Another common practice of the storage of higher level nuclear waste is the use of a site at a major reactor or nearby so that the necessary personnel are on hand to monitor and maintain the equipment or storage facilities. Despite the success of these and other domestic storage sites, the government has begun pursuing a new centralized system of storage. With a seemingly never-ending supply of nuclear waste it is necessary for the U.S. Government to determine a long term solution to this problem. By the early part of the 2000s, they had found their solution: a sprawling underground storage site in the Nevada desert known as Yucca Mountain.
In the future, the United States government intends to store high level nuclear waste within Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Yucca Mountain facility is one of the most extensive constructed, however since its inception it has been plagued by delays and construction difficulties. The project began in 2002 with the selection made by President Bush himself. This event in itself is of note, as according to Rodney C. Ewing and Allison MacFarlane’s Yucca Mountain article that appeared in the journal Science, “This will be the world’s first geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste.” However as soon as the legislation to break ground on Yucca Mountain had been passed. The beginning of what would become an ever expanding list of legal problems began. The government of Nevada, the state in which Yucca Mountain is located, had already begun to protest the senate’s decision by submitting a Notice of Disapproval to Congress which had little effect and was unable to prevent construction. The facility upon completion will have accommodations for up to 70,000 Metric Tons of high grade commercial nuclear waste according to Yucca Mountain. However the Department of Energy quickly faced more doubt as to the suitability of the location for waste, “The Secretary of Energy… maintained that ‘sound science’ supports the decision. In the last eight months three government agencies have reviewed the suitability.” (Yucca Mountain). Despite funding issues particularly under the Obama Administration, it has since been reinstated and in 2018 the Trump Administration began acquiring large amounts of funding for the project. The completion of the project will give the United States a good asset within which to refine storage techniques as well as conduct research on the materials in inventory.
In addition to opposition within the State Government in Nevada as well as the Federal Government, there has been substantial resistance to construction from civilian organizations across the region. A substantial factor in this opposition is the concept of N.I.M.B.Y. or Not In My Back Yard, which signifies American opposition to infrastructure plans which come too near to residential areas or important resources such as drinking water in order for local populations to accept the risk. One of the biggest segments of the opposition comes from the Native American Tribes that remain on reservations surrounding the area Yucca Mountain is located in. Protests of Yucca Mountain persist within
Many dangers exist in the world of nuclear energy, however, one of the most dangerous events for those tasked with the security of nuclear waste is the transportation of nuclear waste from the reactor to the appropriate storage areas. Currently, nuclear waste is often kept close to or on reactor sites to ease the storage process. This means that if a national storage site was created, this would necessitate the creation and adoption of new security measures to protect nuclear waste in transit. Currently the U.S. has some standards in place in order for nuclear waste to safely travel from reactors to storage or disposal sites. According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “Over the last 40 years, thousands of shipments of commercially generated spent nuclear fuel have been made throughout the United States without causing any radiological releases to the environment or harm to the public. (USNRC).” This clearly exhibits that so far, regulations and precautions put in place are adequate in order to provide for the safe passing of all levels of nuclear waste throughout the continental United States. Provided no significant changes occur between the present day and the opening of the Yucca Mountain Repository, current security measures will most likely suffice for years to come in order to insure the safety of millions of Americans whose backyards must travel through.
One danger of nuclear storage being decentralized throughout America is increased risk. If storage is left up to a number of U.S. contractors and other civilian employees, there is potential for mishaps to occur whether due to improper facilities or maintenance, it is inherently more likely that an accident or incident will occur during improper civilian care. These fears are not without merit as within the United States, a country typically known for increased safety and security measures, there have still been dozens of mishaps at U.S. facilities which resulted in more than $50,000 worth of damage. In addition to the ease of storage another positive externality of centralized storage is the potential for better doctrine and regulation to be created as a result of the collaboration of the previously isolated organizations tasked with the upkeep of nuclear waste facilities. Despite this, a good centralized storage facility does not offer a 100% guarantee of safety, and additional more scientific matters pertaining to the safe storage of nuclear waste are the true answer to U.S. nuclear waste concerns. With enhanced storage and maintenance techniques widely available at a centralized storage facility, it is reasonable to assume that this will lead to better safety standards within the nuclear power industry as a whole to respond to rigid government requirements.
In the future nuclear energy will presumably become cleaner through different means such as enhanced filters or potential alternative fuel sources which could further cut down on nuclear waste across the country. Throughout the past, nuclear waste has been dealt with appropriately by the United States Government, resulting in minimal instances of large scale radioactive exposure to either people or the environment on a large scale. This research has shown that the United States has properly handled the logistical problem created by the numerous sources of American nuclear waste. As technology improves it becomes increasingly more likely that a 100% safe system of disposal for nuclear waste will be developed. However for now, the U.S. is still faced with the problem of what to do with its waste. Whether it’s the expansive, but unpopular Yucca Mountain or a small facility in a backwater town, nuclear waste will continue to be a concern of American policymakers and citizens for years to come.