Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain is a flat ridge in the US Federal State Nevada, which extends nearly 10 km von Süden northward. The region possesses a desert climate with only small precipitation.
Yucca Mountain became as prospective location of an ultimate waste disposal for burned down fuel elements and high-radioactive wastes fixed. Originally the best location for the further investigations should be selected from three location alternatives by means of a comparative evaluation. This procedure was however stopped, and Yucca Mountain as examining ultimate waste disposal location was determined of the Federal Government. Present planning sees a storage capacityof 70.000 tons of radioactive wastes forwards, among them 63,000 tons burned down fuel elements from commercial nuclear power stations, which burned down fuel elements from militarily used reactors form remainder and vitreous high-radioactive wastes from the militarily used reprocessing plants department of the OF Energy (DOE).
the planned storage field liesbetween 200 and 425 m under the surface. The landlord rock is volcanic Tuff. After present planning the ultimate waste disposal is to consist of large underground cavities with a multiplicity of connecting lugs, in which the wastes are stored. The delivered material is unloaded from the transport containersand filled over into close ultimate waste disposal containers. These are stored horizontal in the lugs. The effectiveness of different technical barriers is examined at present by the DOE. The suitability of Yucca Mountain is not undisputed. In particular are considered future climatic changes (damp climate instead of desert climate), earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as possible dangersfor the ultimate waste disposal. All US Federal States - with exception of Nevada - for an ultimate waste disposal are political in Yucca Mountain. This would have advantage that above all the eastern Federal States, in which the majority of the atomic power plants is located could get rid of of their radioactive wastes problem-free. The YuccaMountain was starting point of an investigation to the atomic semiotic.
