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Scientists from around the world agree that the best place to put radioactive waste is in a deep underground facility called a geologic repository.
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Scientists have long considered
Yucca Mountain a promising site for
a repository due to the area's
Yucca Mountain is
located in Nye County, Nevada, about
100 miles northwest of Las Vegas,
on the western edge of the Nevada
Test Site. The Nevada Test Site
has hosted numerous nuclear-related
projects for decades.
Congress amended the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act in 1987 and
directed the U.S.
Department of Energy to study
only one site: Yucca Mountain.
Since then, hundreds of scientists
have conducted studies there. The
mountain is one of the most thoroughly
researched sites in the world.
Yucca Mountain is in the desert southwest. Like any desert, it has a dry climate, receiving less than 7.5 inches of precipitation on average per year. Most of that precipitation runs off the mountain or evaporates. Only about 5% would ever reach repository depth. On average, the water moves only a half an inch per year through the rock.
Yucca Mountain's dry climate is an important feature because water is the primary way by which radioactive material could move from a repository.
Yucca Mountain is located at the edge of the Nevada Test Site where more than 900 nuclear weapons tests have been conducted. With approximately 1,375 square miles, this site is surrounded by thousands of additional acres of land withdrawn from the public domain for use as a protected wildlife range and for a military gunnery range, creating an unpopulated land area comprising some 5,470 square miles.
The U.S. Air Force Nevada Test and Training Range (formerly called the Nellis Air Force Range) — with its restricted airspace and defensive capabilities — surrounds the Yucca Mountain area on three sides.
No one lives at Yucca Mountain. The nearest population lives about 15 miles away in the Amargosa Valley.
By being in the proximity of the Nevada Test Site and the Air Force range, Yucca Mountain’s air space is restricted and a highly trained security force is already in place.
There are no known natural resources of commercial value at Yucca Mountain (such as precious metals, minerals, oil, etc.).
In addition, the repository itself would safeguard radioactive materials from acts of terrorism or sabotage. It is highly unlikely that any attack at the surface could affect the waste 1,000 feet underground.
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These untoppled rock formations
near Yucca Mountain suggest
little ground movement in the
area for many millennia.
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Yucca Mountain has changed little over the last several million years. Extensive scientific studies of potential natural hazards at the site show it is highly unlikely that volcanoes, erosion, or other geologic processes and events would disrupt a repository at Yucca Mountain.
In addition, by locating the repository in solid rock about 1,000 feet under the surface and on average 1,000 feet above the water table, the waste would be protected from the impacts of earthquakes. Damaging ground movement is the most intense at the earth’s surface and decreases with the depth underground.
The repository will be located in solid rock about 1,000 feet under the surface and on average about 1,000 feet above the water table. Our studies show that although the water table has fluctuated in wetter climates, it has never risen to the level of the repository.
Yucca Mountain is located in a closed basin, which is an area completely surrounded by higher land.
The mountainous terrain enclosing the basin causes the groundwater to drain inward toward the lower elevations. Therefore, the groundwater does not move uphill beyond the boundaries of the basin, all of which are well defined and understood by geologists.
Water that flows underneath Yucca Mountain flows under Amargosa Valley, where it combines with groundwater from other areas. A small amount of this groundwater could eventually flow underground into Death Valley.
The closed basin prevents the groundwater under Yucca Mountain from flowing into the aquifer systems of any major population centers such as Las Vegas or Pahrump. In addition, the groundwater in this basin does not flow into any aboveground rivers or oceans.
Last reviewed: 05/08
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