One of the new administration’s best picks was Steven Chu as Energy Secretary.
But then one of his first moves was to snuff the Yucca Mountain project, saying only, “I think we can do a better job.”
The government has spent more than $13.5 billion and 30 years of study to create a repository for depleted fuel rods shipped from the nation’s 104 nuclear power plants.
Yucca Mountain proponents charge that the decision to cancel it had more to do with politics than with science. Opponents argued that the previous administration’s support had more to do with politics than science. They all could be correct. Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, is the project’s most ardent supporter; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, is an ardent foe.
It’s the clash of the titans.
Yucca Mountain is in Nevada, but New Mexico has a big stake in the outcome because of our involvement in nuclear: uranium deposits in western New Mexico, nuclear weapons work at the labs, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, and Louisiana Energy Services’ nuclear fuel plant in southeastern New Mexico.
Ironically, the decision to say “yuck” to Yucca Mountain occurred almost on the 10th anniversary of the first waste to WIPP, which, for years, was as controversial as Yucca Mountain. We haven’t heard much in quite a while.
That’s because it’s working. By the numbers: 7,000 shipments hauled over 8 million miles and 60,000 cubic meters of waste in 100,000 containers. No radiation escaping. No contamination.
One major difference between WIPP and Yucca Mountain: Southeastern New Mexico supports WIPP. But polls conducted by Nevada newspapers consistently showed most Nevadans opposed Yucca Mountain.
Supporters of nuclear power and the state’s biggest newspaper instantly jumped to the conclusion that Chu’s Yucca Mountain announcement would sabotage the future of nuclear power.
Hold on there.
First, Chu was director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He doesn’t have a fear of nuclear energy, and he’s not likely to make an emotional decision. Second, the president’s home state of Illinois has the biggest concentration of nukes in the country. Third, look at what else Chu said. He wants to convene a task force to study alternatives to Yucca Mountain and make recommendations by year end. Meanwhile, used reactor fuel can safely stay where it is, at power plants.
And what might this panel of experts propose? Well, we got a sneak peak not long ago at an energy forum.
Two scientists referred to fuel coming out of reactors as “used fuel” and not “waste.” Using the fuel once and then disposing of it in Yucca Mountain is safe, but it’s not the most efficient or responsible solution, they said.
Edward Arthur, director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation Science and Technology, said, “The fuel is not spent by a long shot.”
In fact, 95 percent of fuel is intact; a small percentage is waste that must be stored.
New reactor designs could recycle fuel to supply energy a second time around. Other countries are already doing this. Arthur himself believes the administration is looking for better science and not the end of nuclear power.
Last week we learned about the solar photovoltaic power plant in Colfax County. Yes, it’s a big step toward alternative energy, but look at its capacity: 30 megawatts, only enough for 9,000 homes. And it’ll be the biggest of its kind in North America.
Obviously, we’ll need all forms of energy – conventional and renewable. And there’s lots of support for nuclear — 74 percent of Americans are in favor, according to one survey.
But there’s still that, uh, “used fuel” problem. I’d like to think that recycling and innovative design are what Chu meant when he said we can do a better job.
© New Mexico News Services 2009