The Plan    _______________________

Yucca Mountain is the proposed answer to our country's need for the long term storage of spent nuclear material leftover from nuclear power generation. Every nuclear reactor across the country has produced waste material that must be moved from short term storage to a long term storage facility; Yucca Mountain is that proposed facility.

How it will work  _______________________

The plan is to create a network of tunnels under Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Spent nuclear material will be shipped to and stored in these tunnels via an automated storage system. Construction of the facility has already begun, but due to pressure from those opposed to the project there have been delays and even discussion of abandoning the plan altogether. Thus far, no alternative plan for the long term storage of nuclear waste has been proposed.

The Specifics _______________________

1) Nuclear fuel rods are used to their limit and then placed in specially designed containers known as casks. The casks are then stored in short term storage at the facility where they are used until it is time to ship them to Yucca Mountain via trucks and railways.

2) The inner capsule containing the nuclear material is removed and placed in a multi-layer steel container for storage.

3) Storage containers are then lowered down 1200 feet to a network of storage tunnels below Yucca Mountain. The containers are moved via an automated system which moves the containers along railways within the tunnels.

4) The storage containers continue along the rail system within the tunnels to their assigned storage tunnel where they remain.

Questions and Concerns _________________________________________

The largest concern regarding Yucca Mountain is the substitution of rhetoric for true fact in the public debate over safety concerns and the necessity of the facility. There are, of course, very real safety concerns with the transport and storage of nuclear material, but getting reliable, unbiased, and scientific information during such a publicly charged debate is growing more and more difficult. This makes the decision making process far more difficult for public officials and for the public.

The most prevalent safety and health concerns are as follows; ____________________________________________________

• What risk is there to the general public in transporting this material from all over the country?
• Will the Yucca Mountain facility be a threat to groundwater sources?
• What is the current risk to national security in having this material remain in its current location(s)?
• Does the seismic activity within the region introduce unreasonably high risks to the facility?
• What is the likelihood of technical difficulties within the tunnels?
• What, if any, health risks exist for areas surrounding Yucca Mountain?
• What is the potential for terrorist attack on Yucca Mountain? On current storage facilities?