Editorial: Entombing nuclear reactors may work

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 9:08 a.m.

The nuclear power industry has an easy answer on how to dispose 70,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste: bury it in Nevada. But as is the case with most simple answers to complex questions, the solution is shallow and has the potential to have a catastrophic impact on the public's health and safety.

So it is interesting, then, that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the option of entombing commercial nuclear reactors on site instead of sending thousands of tons of contaminated metals to a repository proposed for Yucca Mountain. The NRC is doing this not only because it is expensive to remove the contaminated reactors, but also because dismantling could expose workers to harmful levels of radiation.

As the Sun's Mary Manning noted in a Tuesday story about the plan, the nuclear power industry still wants to ship thousands of tons of radioactive fuel to Nevada. But if entombment of the nuclear reactors themselves is acceptable, then why not also explore storing the fuel on site through dry cask storage? This would provide more time to find a safe way to either store the waste or dispose of it through other means. A rush to judgment on burying the waste at Yucca Mountain isn't the answer.

archive