Yucca Mountain nearly blends into the desolate landscape as it crisscrosses the Nevada desert, some 160 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas. Yet, for scores of scientists and engineers, the rambling rock formation provides a towering source of motivation as they work toward creating a safe, permanent repository for America’s nuclear fuel waste products.
In the early 1980s, the U.S. government green-lighted the initiative to find a safe, secure way to dispose of the nation’s growing nuclear waste. Almost immediately, hundreds of world-class engineers, geologists, seismologists, volcanologists, chemists, and other specialists converged on Yucca Mountain. Starting in 2001, Bechtel SAIC employees and subcontractors built on that 20 years of research to conduct even more extensive studies, computer modeling, and sophisticated analytic surveys exploring the site’s repository potential.
Located at the edge of a parcel of land officially known as Area 25—part of a nuclear testing site established by President Truman—Yucca Mountain is far from any population centers. Laying out a game plan for the next 10 millennia presents more than a few challenges. One of the biggest for Bechtel SAIC is convincing the U.S. government that Yucca Mountain will endure the test of time.
To reinforce the natural strength of the mountain, structural supports will line each horizontal tunnel. When completed, remotely operated robots will fill the tunnels with the 4.5-meter-long, 1.5-meter-diameter canisters and seal the tunnels. Current plans call for the site to receive radioactive waste for 25 years, and then to monitor the waste for an additional period before Yucca Mountain is permanently shuttered.
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