RE: Should we recycle nuclear waste?
The decision to halt Yucca Mtn waste repository development is
just another example of all that is wrong with US nuclear policy.
Yucca Mtn is within the old Nevada test range, in a place that is
already contaminated with fallout from the 1950's A-bomb tests.
Furthermore, almost no one lives within 50 miles of that place,
and it has almost no water, which makes it ideal. In addition, the
other early nuclear sites created during the Manhattan project
under the press of wartime emergency did not have proper
radiation controls in place, creating uncontrolled contamination
at Hanford, Washington, Rocky Flats, Co, and other places.
Of course, the US nuclear waste (mostly spent fuel rods) should
be re-processed to recover fissile material and encapsulate non-
fissile waste, and this should be done with redundant checks to
ensure that nothing ever escapes containment. Politically, this
will never be allowed because of the mess created during the
early Atomic years, so the President will have to use National
Security authority to over-rule the NIMBY opposition to make this
happen for the greater good of the nation. This would necessarily
need to occur during a 2'nd term, when the President wouldn't
need to seek re-election.
