Congress established a national policy in 1982. To solve the problem of nuclear waste disposal, this federal law is called the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The United States Department of Energy is responsible for finding a site, building a facility, and operating the repository

They studied nine locations for ten years and then narrowed it down to three. The three sites were Hanford, Washington; Deaf Smith County, Texas; and Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In 1987, Wes Barnes, the director of the Yucca Mountain Project (an offshoot of the Department of Energy) decided the desolate mountain ridge in south-western Nevada is to become the final resting place (Monastersky, 1997). More than one hundred of America's commercial nuclear reactors are planned to deposit the worst of their nuclear waste deep into the mountain. It is to be stored permanently, but the project says it will be guaranteed for ten thousand years. The project proposes that the containers be surrounded by impermeable layers of volcanic rock guaranteeing safety (Wolfe, 1997)

The Department of Energy (DOE) reports that there is 20,000 tons of used-up nuclear fuel and that number should double by the year 2000 (kieft, 1997). The fuel rods are now placed in cooling ponds near the plants. Most pools are full, or nearly full. Aware that time is running out, Yucca Mountain was the only site left. The mountain sits inside the Nevada Test Site about 80 miles of Las Vegas. A huge earth boring machine is digging a tunnel 25 feet wide into the mountain. Two miles of tunnel have already been excavated and three more miles remain till completion. The mountain is planned to receive waste by the year 2010 (www.cyberwest.com)

The Nevada state government is against putting the depository in the Mountain. Many people disagree with the project a say the the site can safely hold the waste for only 100 years (www.ige.org). The DOE stresses that if there are any problems with the project that they will recommend against the storing of nuclear waste in the mountain

There are some very important concerns that a group of scientists and technicians are researching (Wolfe, 1997). One is the history of volcanic activity in the area and a fear of an eruption. Another is earthquakes, which is a possibility since there is a faultline not far away. The main concern is more elementary, whether water will leak into the depository (Physics Today, 1997) . The containers will eventually begin to decompose. The surrounding rock now has the responsibility to protect the environment on the surface. Hopefully it will protect the surface for thousands of years. The movement of water is believed to be the only way to let radionuclides past this natural barrier

The people of Nevada have many different views about the Project. Some feel that the federal government will push the project through whether or not it is proved to last safely for 10,000 years or if the site is suitable (Applegate, 1997). People want to feel that the area will be safe to live in for their grandchildren and their grandchildren's grandchildren. Any type of leak would be traumatic for the environment. Others feel that if Americans are going to benefit from the use of nuclear power they should also have to pay the price. Some are looking forward to the new jobs that will be available at the Yucca Mountain Project. Most people feel that storing nuclear waste safely for thousands of years as "crazy" (Wolfe, 1994) The Shoshone Indians have ancestral lands that lie within the Nevada Test Site. They are fearful of the project and contest that the treaty they signed in 1863 did not give full control of their tribal lands to the United States. The Shoshone tribe claims that decades of above ground nuclear testing have caused cancer and other sicknesses among their people. They feel that they are not being fairly considered, again (Herrera, 1997)

The Nevada State government has sued the federal government (unsuccessfully) to stop the nuclear explosions at the Test Site. The Nevada law prohibits the storage of nuclear waste inside the state. Kai Erickson says that nuclear waste is a new species of trouble (Erickson, 1994). Nuclear waste is a new species of trouble because it is going to be a major problem the world will have to deal with for thousands of years. The half-life of nuclear waste can be around 100,000 years and maybe more. The danger that this proposes to us can not be comprehended. This new species that will be with us for years needs to be disposed of somehow. Burial in the Yucca Mountain seems to be the only solution. The problem is that we can not tell what's going to happen in 10,000 years to this sealed container under the volcanic tuff in Yucca Mountain. There are many things to consider such as Geologic, Climatic, Volcanic, Seismic, and Hydrologic factors that may change in the time of 10,000 years

Kai Erikson believes that Nuclear Waste is a new species that has entered our world and doesn't seem to be leaving any time soon.

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