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Essay disposal of nuclear waste
Essay disposal of nuclear waste
Essay disposal of nuclear waste
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Beating the Dead Horse: Yucca Mountain 100 miles northwest from Las Vegas, Nevada you can find the remnants of the abandoned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. The safety of storing waste at Yucca Mountain has been an ongoing debate not only for Indian tribes and local communities around the mountain, but a topic that has concerned many people in Nevada and Washington D.C. The topic itself is a very tricky one to grasp at this point because a quarter century later there is still no real waste site; what is left is an empty site yet to be fully built. In 2008 a number of states had their nuclear waste in reactors transported. The site was once used to store nuclear waste if only temporarily, but was shut down because of funding issues. Still,just …show more content…
Globally it is agreed upon that the safest way to store is deep inside rock. Yucca Mountain offered just that mountainous and inert terrain needed in order to consider it for a nuclear waste site. What is highly controversial is the research that went into factoring in the environmental safety of the site. In 2002, George Bush signed the House Joint Resolution 87 which allowed for the construction of the respiratory center to begin. In 2008, the Nuclear Waste Commission's (NRC) was hired by the DOE to inspect the full safety and other construction requirements in a five part analysis. All the requirements they found were satisfied and also would be “technically sound.” (Tollefson). What is in question about their analysis is the fact they used “tailored formulas” fit specifically for Yucca Mountain which was unknown by most of the public. These formulas did not account for a number of factors that all other nuclear waste sites must adhere to (Thorne). Test ran show they manipulated the sites boundaries “ in order to dilute the radiation that could eventually occur from aquifers” underneath the surrounding area (Bryan,Sandoval). The flaw in choosing and pushing for Yucca Mountain as a pre-selected site also came with making sure the analysis fit to approve it as a site. Still, this has not stopped others in questioning the suitability of the mountain as a storage
The Lowry Landfill Superfund Site is located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, approximately 2 miles east of Aurora. It consists of approximately 507 acres of waste disposal area and is operated by Waste Management of Colorado, Inc. The land surrounding the site consists of native prairie grass and a wetland located along a local creek. Sections around the site are zoned for agricultural use including cattle grazing and non-irrigated wheat farms. 1 The area is home to numerous endangered species including the bald eagle and peregrine falcon. Due to the large amounts of wastes disposed on the site between 1965 and 1980, it became extremely contaminated with a variety of inorganic and organic contaminants. From 1984 to 1993, the EPA oversaw remedial investigation and feasibility studies that were performed by all responsible parties. Since its listing as a superfund site in 1984, multiple remedial actions have been performed in order to rehabilitate the site. These include clay barrier walls around the site, a groundwater collection system, a soil cover for the main landfill, as well as a landfill gas collection system. Groundwater that is collected on the site is treated at an onsite water treatment facility. In 2007, construction began on an onsite gas to energy plant that utilizes the methane produced by the landfill site. The electricity produced by the plant is enough to power 3000 households. 1 Today, use of land and groundwater on and near the site is still restricted by the state of Colorado.1
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering took ground water samples that showed volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in the supply well. This well was formerly used for drinking water for the community. The results indicated that the ground water beneath the property was contaminated with radioactive material and VOCs. A sphagnum bog on the grounds had evidence of radioactive contamination. The soil, sediment, surface water, and ground water on the site had high levels of depleted uranium. On some of the soil and sediments, Poly Chlorinated Bi-phenyls were recorded. The buildings and structures on the grounds were as well contaminated with depleted uranium and other hazardous substances.
Tecumseh ,Shawnee war chief, was born at Old Piqua, on the Mad River in western Ohio. In 1774, his father, Puckeshinwa, was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and in 1779 his mother, Methoataske, accompanied those Shawnees who migrated to Missouri, later died. Raised by an older sister, Tecumpease, Tecumseh would play war games with other fellow youths in his tribe. Tecumseh accompanied an older brother, Chiksika, on a series of raids against frontier settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1780’s. Chiksika had a vision that he would not survive the battle at Buchanan’s station he went ahead as plan and attacked the stockade and was mortally wounded and was carried from the battle field and the dying warrior asked not to be buried but to be placed on a hill. Tecumseh and the other’s retreated back to a Cherokee village where most went back to Ohio while Tecumseh and some other warriors stayed behind. After that Tecumseh went on mostly hunting but occasionally attacking settler’s. After that moved back towards home and come to find out that the Shawnee’s had moved on to where it’s much safer. The battle of Fallen Timber’s broke confidence in British assistance as well as many casualties. Pissed off by the Indian defeat, he refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville (1795). In the 1800’s Tecumseh began to show signs of a prominent war chief. He led a group of yong Indian warriors to a village on the White River in east-central Indiana. There in 1805 Lalawethika ex...
Removal of the mountaintops causes environmental impacts from blasting. The blasting has caused rocks to be deposited into valleys on the hillsides, burying almost 2,000 miles of streams which feed the Mississippi River. Slurry, the residue which is used to clean the coal can wash into groundwater and may contain arsenic, lead, manganese, iron, sodium, strontium, and sulfate. A recent research study is beginning to link these environmental impacts to the grave health concerns in the Appalachian communities. During most of the Mountaintop removal mining’s history coal industries have been able to obtain permits easily to operate, but once under the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) those permits now take more time to obtain. The permit process requires all applications to be reviewed before being given out to coal
(Muller 257) There are prominent problems that need to be assisted and taken care of. Spending so much time and money on nuclear waste is just squandering
If you think about it, today’s world is not such what we call “user-friendly” place.
When you think of Arizona, you think of vast deserts with the sun that lasts the whole day. As you force your car north through the significant state, the seasons change before your eyes. Finally, in the middle of the state you reach the rich San Francisco Mountains. Once you see the peaks of the mountains you know you are close to Flagstaff, AZ.
The article mentions how we never really thought through how we would get rid of nuclear waste which is still deadly from a thousand years from now. So we place spent fuel rods near the nuclear sites in cooling pools. This is something I do not agree with the chapter says that in 2003 we had 108 million pounds of nuclear waste concentrated at these sites and that in thirty years it will be doubled. This is an absolute disaster waiting to happen I think that we need to find a better way of disposing of nuclear waste than just concentrating millions of pounds at sites near urban populations otherwise we are going to have another 3-mile island disaster on our hands. Especially if they keep putting the waste near presumed dead volcanoes, what if an earthquake happens and reawakens the volcano that was not dead but just dormant and all that molten lava goes rushing towards all that
Popular culture is the artistic and creative expression in entertainment and style that appeals to society as whole. It includes music, film, sports, painting, sculpture, and even photography. It can be diffused in many ways, but one of the most powerful and effective ways to address society is through film and television. Broadcasting, radio and television are the primary means by which information and entertainment are delivered to the public in virtually every nation around the world, and they have become a crucial instrument of modern social and political organization. Most of today’s television programming genres are derived from earlier media such as stage, cinema and radio. In the area of comedy, sitcoms have proven the most durable and popular of American broadcasting genres. The sitcom’s success depends on the audience’s familiarity with the habitual characters and the situations
Where is home? Home is West Virginia, where spring flowers grow, summer nights are cool and calm, and fall leaves change colors as they blow across the ground. The three things I love most about West Virginia is the beautiful seasons, the recreational activities, and the fact that all my family live here. West Virginia is a recreational state, filled with beautiful seasons and strong family values.
About 31 or more people had died from the tragic event in 1986 in Chernobyl, Russia from the accident itself or from thyroid cancer that developed after the incident later on down the road chernobyl was a horrific event and lead to more deaths even after the fact.Another nuclear related accident was when the TMI power planted almost melted down,it showed us that a lot can happen from one small problem such as a faulty pressure valve can over heat the reactor and this could cause a plant to meltdown.A problem we face everyday still is nuclear waste, we wonder where we can put it that allows the population to still be safe.The U.S. is doing a latter approach for nuclear waste and the location chosen for this is Yucca Mountain in Nevada. They feel waste is to dangerous to just leave it.A good thing about power plants is that they are safer than other methods in the working field.Nuclear power is useful but with the radiation given off or if the power plant exploded or something along those lines the radiation is stronger and more powerful and can spread across a location and kill many. Nuclear power is also safer having less deaths on the job compared to other generating sources known as oil refiners or other fossil fuel jobs.
"I am as happy nowhere else and in no other society, and all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello," wrote Thomas Jefferson the great architect of his home, Monticello. His home of 54 years was named Monticello which means "little mountain" in Italian. Many still question the reasoning for the name "Monticello." The only reasoning that was come up with was that Jefferson wanted to build his home on his mountain located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia near Charlottesville. He wanted a place that was private and away from civilization and the commotion of politics.
In addition to the potential dangers of accidents in generating stations, nuclear waste is a continuing problem that is growing exponentially. Nuclear waste can remain radioactive for about 600 years and disposing these wastes or storing them is an immense problem. Everyone wants the energy generated by power plants, but no one wants to take responsibility for the waste. Thus far, it is stored deep in the earth, but these storage areas are potentially dangerous and will eventually run out. Some have suggested sending the waste into space, but no one is sure of the repercussions.
The Green Mountain National Forest, established in 1932, is Vermont’s only National Forest. It is managed in the spirit of multiple uses, including recreational activities, logging and watershed protection and management. An ecosystems management approach has recently been adopted by the U.S. Forest Service in maintaining the forest.
...far into the future as possible until it becomes a burden to the current generation and that any perceived benefits gained by those future generations cannot be measure. With that in mind, burying the nuclear waste in Yucca mountain is simply too risky given natural condition, which is why the aboveground storage and passing on to future generations method is best suited for the overall benefit of mankind and the enviroment. This can only hold true if each generation commits to not only contributing towards the safe containment of the radioactive waste, but also encourages the next generation to do the same. Actions taken today with good intentions for the future can still yield negative results in that future. But, with this method, small incremental improvements can be taken over time and not burden one generation with the welfare of all generations after it.