Yucca Mountain Shipping Could Cost A Bundle

[struggle4progress]

Shipping nuclear waste through southern Nevada would create a financial burden on Clark County taxpayers. Today county commissioners are outlining their expense plan on how much money they would need to protect local families from high-level nuclear waste.

In all, they say the price tag would be around 2 and a half billion dollars. That would cover police, fire and emergency crews over the Department Of Energy's 24-year shipment schedule.

Spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste will come from more than 100 sites around the country. Most of it by rail and most of it from the eastern half of the country. Shipments coming from southern California and other southwestern states could travel right through Las Vegas, in specially designed casks. The train would use the existing Union Pacific rail lines. <snip>

http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3729239&nav=15MVdPLN

[MrModerate]

1. Agreed -- shipping will be costly . . .

Does this mean that the wastes should be left where they are? Should Yucca Mountain be abandoned as a repository?

[struggle4progress]

2. Whatever is done, it's not fair to stiff the local taxpayers. eom

[MrModerate]

3. I buy that -- these wastes are a national problem . . .

Not to mention a problem faced by the whole human race.

Any solution that involves shipping to a repository (like Yucca) needs to address all the issues, not just creating secure casks to ship in. Traffic control, monitoring, antihijacking measures, upgrading intersections and other highway components, etc., etc. need to be primarily DOE's responsibility, not local jurisdictions.

[medeak]

4. 3.5 BILLION DOLLARS! to Clark County

but the feds said it would be a good thing.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/special/2005/aug/16/519213655.html