Wasteland: The nuclear graveyard under New Mexico

Wasteland: The nuclear graveyard under New Mexico

Today, nearly 70,000 tons of nuclear waste sits outside nuclear power plants across the country. For the last half-century, scientists and politicians have struggled to create a viable solution for permanent waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, located 90 miles outside Las Vegas. They’ve failed. As the political dust settles over Yucca, eyes turn to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Read the full story here:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/14/3038814/yucca-mountain-wipp-wasteland-battle-entomb-nuclear-waste More from The Verge:

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50 Comments

  1. The Transmogrifer on April 24, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    It was the worst short term plan that made the DC pols rich. Now it IS an even worse long range plan.

  2. - uju - on April 24, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    Curious to know what would happen if we sent the waste towards the sun, would it burn up and be destroyed or would it cause the sun to spiral out of control and blow us all up ?

  3. Your super sexy boogeyman slayer on April 24, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    Why haven’t we tried launching it into space yet? Not even into the sun but just into space and out of earths orbit where it will float furter away from earth indefinitely.

  4. Danny Boel on April 24, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    WTF is up with that picture quality?

  5. AeneA on April 24, 2022 at 1:45 pm

    Harry Reid must be one of the worst and useless politicians in the U.S. History..!!

  6. Common Sense on April 24, 2022 at 1:47 pm

    big question how deep are you going? Way below the water table ?

  7. Krystyl Summers on April 24, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    Ummmmm….so how did they wreck to changing road hazards?

  8. John Bray on April 24, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    unwatchable due to intrusive background music

  9. stumpedII on April 24, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    make an unbreakable container out of titanium.. then shoot it into the sun .. design it to remaine intact even if the rocket fails.

  10. Derrick Taite on April 24, 2022 at 1:51 pm

    It’s time to shut them all down for good .

  11. David Lizotte on April 24, 2022 at 1:52 pm

    So typical of these rooms…they’re “33”feet wide….13 feet high.. well of course they are!

  12. Gary Storm on April 24, 2022 at 1:53 pm

    Our only Refuge and Hope is in the Son of God. Immanuel God with us spoke Truth Forever please Pray for everyone, every day … Peace

  13. peace@love on April 24, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    Ever think why they store that stuff because it’s actually fuel for newer technology that they don’t want us to know yet so they’re just storing it why else would we just keep having nuclear power plants and producing this waste if we couldn’t do nothing with it that would make no sense and we would have to basically try something different instead of making waste

  14. World Changing Videos on April 24, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    Nuclear is incredibly costly to taxpayers

  15. Danny 63 on April 24, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    Does anyone know how much this project cost?

  16. grippen on April 24, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    Just dump it in the ocean like every body else….

  17. godnmyhands on April 24, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    its obvious that all the nuke waste into the sea and water tables, the disasters in chernob and fuku, and the 3000+ nukes (including a very northerly detonated czar bomba) are the real players in ‘man caused’ climate change puzzle. no one talks about the elephant. NONE of the radiation over the last 60 years has vanished. it settles into the living,(accumulates in the organs unable to exit), and in the forest, eventually into the earth ..since its not water soluble and is ‘heavy’ it then eventually settle in the muck at the bottom of the sea where it is now working its way into the methane hydrates …certain disaster! When the hydrates melt there are by products released like high amounts of carbon. All the radiation is hot and is the cause of sea temperature change. NUKE ENERGY IS THE DISASTER that has caused the most global warming of mans responsibility.

  18. sudo kode on April 24, 2022 at 1:57 pm

    Maybe I missed something, but is this video about low-level waste or high-level waste? It mentions both, and maybe I just missed the turning point with all the dramatic music, but was there one? What is the difference between storing LLW and HLW? I would think HLW would be worse because it lasts much longer, but LLW can be quite nasty if ingested. Now I’m curious what we plan to do with all the intermediate-level waste… Maybe less dramatic music next time and more explanation?

  19. James Bingham on April 24, 2022 at 1:58 pm

    You’ve gotta reprocess this stuff. Get the half life under 500 years and provide low cost fuel for future reactors. Pull out the valuable resources from the fuel and make the size of the waste as small as possible. And finally, make it clear to Nevada and New Mexico, that the waste is coming your way. Offer them deals on low cost energy if it can smooth the skids, but ship it to the locations and problem solved.

  20. Richard Riffle on April 24, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    What would happen if we took all nuclear waste and start throwing in volcanoes

  21. Lifes Prodject on April 24, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    Ok dont make the waste!!! Hmmmmmm?

  22. t palmer on April 24, 2022 at 2:00 pm

    Billions of dollars invested in Yucca Mountain and in Navada.
    We should make them return the money.
    I love how politicians exaggerate that the trucks would drive through the Vegas strip and park outside of preschools… how ridiculous his statements were.
    🙁

  23. In Harmony With Earth on April 24, 2022 at 2:00 pm

    Nuclear steam cauldrons require hot uruanium rods that are made in Eastern Europe and China. The Uranium is cooked for months with enormous quantities of coal. Nuclear enrichment blackens the air so badly the U.S. moved their enrichment plants to China. Nuclear power is as wasteful as dropping hot rocks in a pot of water to make steam. The only advantage for the rulers are the by product is their weapons grade putonium necessary to kill people and it benefits the coal industry immensely.

  24. Steffy Bael on April 24, 2022 at 2:03 pm

    the NUCLEAR WASTE SHOULD BE BURIED UNDER WASHINGTON DC!!! BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY LAND BELONGING TO "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INC." INCORPORATED IN LONDON ENGLAND!!!!!

  25. christian romero on April 24, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    Low level……..so obviously there’s more and higher levels ……yikes

  26. Ross Harris on April 24, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    Nuclear Specialist Navy Lt. Jimmy Carter. He was called to Idaho 1951 disaster. He was called to 3 Mile Island disaster 1979

  27. Harold Lamble on April 24, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    If they have reactors now that eat neuclar waste I would like to hear about it . even though I hate neuclar energy for safety issues .if it’s spent fuel it should be inert . it’s not to my understanding.

  28. Марко Недељковић on April 24, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    Always wondered why not send nuclear waste to space?

  29. Gene Hasenbuhler on April 24, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    It’s been closed due to earthquake activity in the area and a faultline right through the facility!

  30. Bethy Mears on April 24, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    This is not good enough we need a better solution.

  31. BotBoy on April 24, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    Wow! This place looks super honorable! I sure hope some great deeds are esteemed here!

  32. John Prince on April 24, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    It’s to late now????????

  33. Zedrone on April 24, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    Shoot it to the Moon

  34. Bethy Mears on April 24, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    This is not good enough we need a better solution.

  35. Kassandra101 on April 24, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    Me: Can we go visit Black Mesa?
    Mom: We have Black Mesa at home.
    Black Mesa at home:

  36. Barbara Fogle on April 24, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    All this to boil water and make money.

  37. Jack Reisewitz on April 24, 2022 at 2:20 pm

    Consider the irony – the military tested over 920 Nuclear bombs in the area surrounding Yucca mountain, more than 800 were underground. That means there are 800 plus holes in the area filled with radioactive material. No one’s talking about water quality issues from them, or putting up signs to warm future generations about digging there, or posting guards to watch over the contents of these sites. None of the issues raised against Yucca mountain are being spoken relative to them. What gives???
    Open Yucca mountain, and stop the B.S.

  38. phil durre on April 24, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    whats the proplem to have nuclear waste if its 1000m below the ground lol

  39. Bethy Mears on April 24, 2022 at 2:22 pm

    Fossil fuels causing global warming,
    No one is willing to admit nuclear waste has caused global warming.

  40. dat boy prim on April 24, 2022 at 2:22 pm

    I’m about to get hired here

  41. A Thief In The Night on April 24, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    I don’t get why all these people are so against having a cool as nuclear waste storage factory especially if it is decorated in such a foreboding way. Like that’s basically a work of art.

  42. handacsaba on April 24, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    "do not dig or drill here before a.d. 12000" 👀

  43. Christopher Brown on April 24, 2022 at 2:30 pm

    Store it in Washington DC. Under the white house.

  44. Bojan Milojkovic on April 24, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    STOP MAKING MORE WASTE !!!

  45. excited box on April 24, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    The problem is education not a technical one. Instead the Waste sits around ON THE SURFACE in PARKING LOTS. I would have no problem letting them bury it in my backyard but that is because I know enough about the science. Until you educate people they will always be afraid and stubborn. Coal power kills THOUSANDS of TIMES as many people each year as nuclear power but instead of closing them down people are fighting Nuclear power and building more coal plants.

  46. HAND FUN! on April 24, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    Yucca Mtn would have been an economic base for NV.

  47. MasterX767 on April 24, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    That stuff is invaluable for the creation of SUPER heavy metals.

  48. VIDEOSUPERHIGHWAY on April 24, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    They made a big mess of disposal when they bought the wrong kitty litter used to mix with the transuranic waste in the barrels, they bought organic litter instead of clay and it caused a reaction with the waste spreading plutonium all over the place.

  49. Hendrik hendrik527 on April 24, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    Stop Nuclear energy

  50. Isidro Onez Jr on April 24, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    I wonder if those warning sign could last for 9980 years.

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