Measure hastens waste to Yucca: Surface storage part of senator's proposal

[NVMojo]

WASHINGTON -- Nuclear waste could start arriving at Yucca Mountain in 2010, seven years sooner than the government planned, under a bill introduced Wednesday in Congress that seeks to speed progress at the Nevada radioactive-waste site.

The bill would allow the Department of Energy to pour concrete pads at the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas and start transporting high-level nuclear waste from DOE and Defense Department weapons installations for storage in steel and concrete casks.

By the end of the following year, spent nuclear fuel could start arriving from commercial nuclear reactors for similar above-ground storage.

Several thousand tons of waste would remain in the upright containers until DOE won safety approvals to start placing them in an underground repository nearby.

The timelines are contingent on the Department of Energy keeping to a licensing plan, completing necessary environmental studies and winning construction licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after timely safety reviews, said aides to Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who sponsored the measure.

more...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-28-Thu-2006/news/9915814.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Oh, THAT sounds like a great idea.

[NVMojo]

2. typical repuke idea!! HAHA!!!

[Nihil]

3. Hey, good idea!

Don't forget to put up a tarpaulin to keep them safe from the weather.

Tell you what, if no-one tries to steal them in the first few years,
you can cancel Yucca Mountain (after having given the appropriate pay-off
to the GOP contractors) and just keep using the concrete pads ... that
way not only do you appear to be listening to the anti-Yucca protestors
but saving a lot on the cost for the ongoing maintenance: win-win!

Jeez ...