Paul Wilson opines about the best way to reduce the chances of Wisconsin becoming a national site for the storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The most obvious answer is to proceed with construction of a waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a report two years ago on the Yucca Mountain suitability as a disposal spot for nuclear waste, saying it meets requirements for long-term safety.
But the Yucca Mountain project has ground to a halt under President Barack Obama, acting at the behest of Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who opposes it vehemently for stupid reasons.
The Yucca Mountain project, however, could resume once Obama leaves office and Reid retires from Congress at the end of this year. After all, Congress has designated the Nevada site for the repository, it is the law, and has collected over $20 billion from nuclear electricity ratepayers to pay for it. After spending billions and decades in studying Yucca, not to complete the repository would be nonsensical and just stupid as well. The NRC safety evaluation shows Yucca would make an acceptable repository.
Despite this knowledge, some opponents of a state Assembly bill lifting Wisconsin decades-old restrictions on building nuclear power plants claim the measure could enable the Department of Energy to designate Wisconsin Wolf River Batholith as an alternative site for a subsurface waste repository. While the Wolf River Batholith was once considered as a possible site for a repository, the DOE has shown no interest in revisiting it. Besides, the current statutes say nothing about siting a spent fuel repository, and certainly do nothing to protect Wisconsin citizens from becoming the host to a permanent geologic nuclear waste repository, as a recent guest column suggested.
Nuclear power needs to be part of the solution. Expanding its use would be easier if the waste repository is opened at Yucca Mountain. It awaits ...
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