Yucca Mountain and Nuclear Waste:

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Yucca Mountain and Nuclear Waste

• Gambling with the future of the human race

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This is Yucca Mountain, Nevada
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Scary Facts

• Radiation from the bombs dropped on Hiroshima
  killed __________ people in a year

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Scary Facts

• Radiation from the bombs dropped on Hiroshima
  killed _140,000_ people in a year

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Scary facts

• When full, Yucca Mountain Will be ____________
  more radioactive than the bomb dropped on
  Hiroshima

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Scary facts

• When full, Yucca Mountain Will be _1,400,000_
  more radioactive than the bomb dropped on
  Hiroshima

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This is Las Vegas, Nevada
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Scary facts

• Yucca Mountain is ____ miles north of Las Vegas

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Scary facts

• Yucca Mountain is _80_ miles north of Las Vegas

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This is Chernobyl, Belarus
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These are children harmed by radiation at
Chernobyl
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Scary facts

• Radiation from the meltdown at Chernobyl nuclear
  plant was traced as far as ___________.

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Scary facts

• Radiation from the meltdown at Chernobyl nuclear
  plant was traced as far as North America.

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To Recap

• Yucca Mountain will be
• 1,400,000 times more radioactive than the bomb
  dropped on Hiroshima
• Home for the waste from 130 Chernobyls
• 80 miles from a major metropolis

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• Those arent even the most crucial reasons to
  oppose Yucca Mountain
• But First

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What is nuclear waste?

• Nuclear Waste, or spent nuclear fuel, is the rods
  of uranium pellets that are no longer useful in
  nuclear reactors, but remain highly radioactive
  for tens of thousands of years, possibly more
• Also some waste from weapons research and testing

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4 Reasons

• 1) Geologically/ecologically hazardous
• 2) Dangers of transportation/security
• 3) Suspect motives of those endorsing the project
• 4) Perpetuates cycle of nuclear power

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Geological Hazards

• Earthquakes
• Third most seismically active area in the U.S.
• Located above an active magma pocket
• Leaching of radioactive materials into water table

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A touch of irony

• A June 1992 earthquake coming in at 5.2 on the
  Richter scale caused more than 1 million in
  damage to the U.S. Department of Energy building
  located just 6 miles from the Yucca mountain site

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Transportation Dangers

• Highly toxic materials will be on trucks and
  trains traveling thousands of miles across the
  country
• The routes are very public
• Terrorist dangers
• Risks of purely accidental incidents (i.e.
  crashes, derailings)

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Security Dangers

• Material is extremely dangerous to humans for
  more than 10,000 years
• A terrorist holy grail?
• Accidental exposure?

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Suspect Motives

• The Government has already spent 4-7 billion
  investigating the Yucca Mountain project
• Nothing has been built yet
• Yucca mountain is the ONLY site that has been
  investigated

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Ominous future of Nuclear Power

• Yucca Mountain will be full by 2035 and a new
  facility will be needed
• Does NOT get waste out of cities, it still sits
  in cooling pools
• Cancer rates are 5-10 higher immediately
  downwind from nuclear power plants