What's Hotter? Nuclear Waste or Nevada Politics?
08/21/03
Yesterday, my wife and I joined a tour of Yucca Mountain - the nation's proposed nuclear waste repository. The tour was co-sponsored by the Las Vegas Land Rover dealership and the Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC. We learned of the tour through a newspaper ad and quickly phoned to reserve a spot.
It was necessary to provide our social security numbers and date and place of birth. We chose a meal option and were told no cameras, recorders or weapons will be allowed and that we should bring a photo ID and not wear shorts or sandals.
We arrived a 15 minutes early for the tour. After all were present, we boarded a coach and were taken to the Yucca Mountain Information Center on Meadows Lane just south of Meadows Mall. Here we viewed a series of well-constructed exhibits that explained what nuclear waste is, why it is dangerous and why a repository is a good idea. This center is open to the public 8am to 5pm Mondays thru Fridays. The center and the tone of the tour is all designed to show why Yucca Mountain is the best place to store the nation's stockpile of waste that has accumulated at power plants and also high level waste from the navy. Nevada residents are very much aware that this project is very controversial and many oppose it. This page will not debate the issues, but merely continue with a description of our tour. Those wishing to learn more of the Yucca Mountain project would do well by visiting the center or looking at www.ymp.gov. The quality of this web page, the exhibits at the center, and the narrative of our guide, Mr. Max Powell, and the brochures we received all indicate that we were being hosted by a very polished and professional organization.
We left the information center and our bus proceeded onto U.S. 95 heading north to the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain. Along the way (at mile marker 113), we observed tanks placed along the Nellis range for military exercises. Suddenly, we saw an unmanned Predator aircraft glide in for a touchdown and take off along an air strip. Another Predator was "parked" nearby. Our bus proceeded north through Indian Springs to the Mercury entrance of the Nevada Test Site. Our guide pointed out the two large pens that are used as holding areas for those waiting to be arrested on trespassing charges when there are protests. The large fenced areas had no shade and each had a single porta-potty. The bus stopped at the entry checkpoint and a security person entered and verified that each member of the tour was wearing the visitor badge that was provided at the information center. Once cleared, our bus proceeded for about 20 more minutes to the base of Yucca Mountain. We brushed by a few buildings, a tower and other remnants of past projects conducted at the test site, but of course we entered no classified areas.
At the mountain, there were five identical 15 passenger white vans with government tags waiting for us in the desert. It somewhat reminiscent of "Close Encounters", I searched for the "dead" cattle, but could find none. Instead of Devil's Mountain, we were headed up Yucca Mountain. The vans stirred up lots of dust as we ascended about 3000 feet to the 5000 foot elevation. At the top we assembled and I was amazed how hot it was - even at 5000 feet. Max was great! He pointed out Mt. Charleston and the approximate location of Pahrump. Through the summer haze, he was able to identify Mt. Whitney, the Panamint and Funeral ranges thereby locating Death Valley. I was surprised to learn that we were now on Bureau of Land Management land. This means that you can go up U.S. 95, locate the dirt road we saw at the base of Yucca Mountain and even climb to the summit. Of course, that would not be an option since we were standing in heat close to 110 F. Max also pointed out that we were 1000 feet above the tunnel which itself is 1000 feet above the water tables. He also pointed out the nearby fault lines and explained why these would not disturb the inside of the tunnel.
We loaded back into the vans and descended to the north portal of the five mile C-shaped tunnel. There, an amazing machine was resting outside the portal. A 400 foot long assembly called the tunnel boring machine was very impressive. A legend on the machine declared it to be the "Yucca Mucker". The head was a 25 foot diameter rotating cutter device with many circular cutters protruding from the rotating mechanism. (Wish we could take pictures). The device cut the five mile, 25 foot diameter tunnel at a rate of 18 inches per hour. This was not through dirt, but through solid rock! The cuttings were evacuated through a conveyor out the rear of the tunnel and still are piled outside the south portal. An amazing engineering feat!
Next, we went to the south portal and entered a building where we were treated to a fine box lunch compliments of the Land Rover dealership. After lunch, we donned hard hats and safety goggles and entered the tunnel. Unlike other tunnels, this one was hot - well over 100 degrees. We walked for a few hundred feet and entered an alcove where a knowledgeable gent briefed us on the proposed process for shipping, accepting and storing the waste. The questions kept coming until one wise person suggested we return to the air conditioned building for further discussion.
We completed our tour, returned to the bus and proceeded to the exit checkpoint where we once again had to show our badges to the security. This was a fantastic tour and I was glad to experience Yucca Mountain and learn more about what is likely to occur there for the next century or two.