Earthquake Fault Possible Beneath Yucca Mountain Site
Sep 24, 2007 07:59 PM
Tedd Florendo, Reporte
Drilling operations at the Yucca Mountain project, north of Las Vegas, have unearthed a big surprise that could create concern about the project.
New rock samples show preliminary evidence of an earthquake fault right underneath where Yucca Mountain project planners want to handle highly radioactive waste.
U.S. Geological Survey maps show the fault beneath where officials hope to build concrete pads to store spent radioactive fuel canisters.
The possible discovery of a fault doesn't surprise environmental science professor Barry Perlmutter who says Nevada ranks third in the nation, behind California and Alaska, for active fault lines.
View recent earthquake activity in Nevada and California
The head of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects calls the finding an example of technical work being done after-the-fact. Executive Director Bob Loux says this is one of the reasons the project should be stopped.
"If you had a bunch of spent fuel on this concrete pad and some sort of event that triggered the fault, the dry canisters could fall and come apart and release some of the contents," he said.
The Department of Energy released a statement saying safety is their number one concern and the purpose of the drilling is to find specific places to put the concrete facilities. They say they will not build on spots that are seismically active.
Congress picked Yucca Mountain in 2002 to become the nation's nuclear waste dump.
Gregor Gable
Post a Comment
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments