USDOE Problems With [Not] Storing Nuclear Waste
Project Related
Finnish Deep Nuclear Waste Disposal Reaches Milestone
Finland is leading the world when it comes to permanently disposing of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository. Their Onkalo facility recently completed excavation of the first of five final disposal tunnels, a […]
Miscellaneous
Pilot Project for CO2 Sequestration
A pilot study is about to be undertaken by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to study the possibility of CO2 sequestration in deep basalt formations throughout the West and Northwest. The study will involve injecting 3,000 to 5,000 tons of liquid CO2 at a depth of between 3,000 and 4,000-ft. The team hopes that mineralization will gradually transform the CO2 and basalt into limestone. The total cost of the pilot study is approximately $10 million and is funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Available Resources
Yucca Mountain – $32 Billion More
Thanks to Harold at the Ontario-geofish blog, I came accross this AP article that releases the first Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository cost estimate update since 2001. The US DOE now puts the cost of the facility at $90 billion, up $32 billion from that 2001 estimate. Of course that estimate is slightly deceptive. It covers the $9 billion already spent and 100 years of operation. Perhaps the bigger issue is funding has not been secured largely in part to the efforts of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat-NV). If a steady stream of money can be secured, the best case scenario for the facility is a 2020 opening.
I also found a neat blog called Yucca Facts that has a refreshing perspective on the facility that is pro-science if not necessarily pro-Yucca. They also have a commentary about this latest DOE announcement and some commentary on Senator Reid.