Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.
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I heard GOP Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian say on a local radio talk show that Yucca Mountain should be the site of a nuclear waste reprocessing facility. This seems ill-advised.
It means hazardous nuclear waste would have to be shipped in and even more hazardous material would be shipped out while a significant amount of material would be stored on-site, waiting to be processed.
There is still a significant amount of waste left after reprocessing and all of the “reprocessed” nuclear material produced may not be able to be used to refuel the country’s existing reactors.
Also, many of the reprocessing technologies require significant amounts of dangerous chemicals.
Given most nuclear power plants are in the Midwest and Eastern regions, shipping nuclear material back and forth to Nevada makes no sense.
While Tarkanian cited France as a example of where reprocessing has been successful, studies indicate that its reprocessing efforts actually add to the cost of electrical power while not completely eliminating nuclear waste.
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