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Storing nuclear waste and politics in the US

July 4, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

Since 1950s, nuclear waste is filing up at the source in the US. It is estimated that the United States has over 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste stored at more than 130 sites all around the country. More than two thirds of it stored in pools of water and the reminder in thickly lined casks. Storing nuclear waste safely and environmentally sensitive manner in the United States appears to be caught up in politics.

The Federal government is building an underground, 1,000 feet below the surface, nuclear waste storage facility in Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada since 1982. So far the government spent billions of dollars on the project. Land acquisition cost more than $10 billion and another $19 billion or so spent on legal settlements all of which over the construction cost. Originally the project was to go into operation by mid-1990s but most recent estimates indicate that the facility will not be ready until 2020s. The latest is politics that enter into the picture that will delay the project even further. In the meantime nuclear waste is getting accumulated all over the country and the recent Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan reminds everybody the danger of dealing with nuclear technology.

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