# What's a Little Nuclear Waste Among Friends? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919 "2005-04-05T21:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/1 "2005-04-05T21:48:03Z")
[Scientists e-mails reveal that they fabricated data on the safety of Yucca Mountain.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4914385,00.html) > [@](#): > > Lawmakers summoned top Energy and Interior department officials to explain e-mails in which scientists on the Yucca Mountain project talk about inventing facts, keeping two sets of records and deleting data that didn’t get a desired result. > > A congressional panel chaired by Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., planned to question the Energy Department official overseeing the nuclear waste dump project, along with the head of the U.S. Geological Survey, whose employees authored the e-mails. Also on the witness list were the inspectors general of both departments, who are conducting investigations. What’s that guy in _Repoman_ say? “Radiation. They say it’s bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. You can survive a hundred chest X-rays a year, and you should have them too!” ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/2 "2005-04-05T23:22:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Lawmakers summoned top Energy and Interior department officials to explain e-mails in which scientists on the Yucca Mountain project talk about inventing facts, keeping two sets of records and deleting data that didn’t get a desired result. The folks weeding out the “undesirable” data … did they call themselves the OSP, by chance? ---
**Author:** ![gaucho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@gaucho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaucho)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/3 "2005-04-05T23:47:19Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > What’s that guy in _Repoman_ say? “Radiation. They say it’s bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. You can survive a hundred chest X-rays a year, and you should have them too!” Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it’s bad for you! ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/4 "2005-04-06T02:45:13Z")
Obviously it’s much safer to have it scattered across the country in less secure temporary storage near large population centers. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/5 "2005-04-06T02:54:56Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Obviously it’s much safer to have it scattered across the country in less secure temporary storage near large population centers. Maybe with accurate truthful info we can come up with a legitimate solution. Can’t do it when the info used to make the decision is malinfo. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/6 "2005-04-06T03:55:27Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Obviously it’s much safer to have it scattered across the country in less secure temporary storage near large population centers. It is much safer. Give me a little while and I’ll fake up some documents to prove it. See the problem here? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/7 "2005-04-06T05:29:34Z")
Well, it has been studied to death, and all in all, YM seems our best alternative. Of course this is based on my desire for quick action to get this stuff someplace safe (or mostly safe) soon. If we wait fifty years we might have a better location, but I do not want to wait. Theis waste stuff being aboveground creeps me out. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/8 "2005-04-06T12:18:04Z")
And even if Yucca Mountain isn’t safe, it’s just Nevada. It’s _already_ a wasteland. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/9 "2005-04-06T13:04:41Z")
It is certainly safer than the alternative. In fact the real problem will be getting the waste from a couple of miles from your house to YM. That would be a challenge. It seems safe enough for the timeframe I am interested in (say a thousand years). It may not be safe enough for the billion years they are using as a standard. I understand (correct me if I am wrong) that YM already needs to be replaced as the waste we already have will fill it up. That is scary. BTW, I like Nevada. Heck, I am a legal resident of Nevada (for tax reasons of course). ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/10 "2005-04-06T15:29:55Z")
> [@](#): > > That would be a challenge. Not really; they have armored, nearly unbreakable transports and send them along with soldiers to be sure. Digging utmmore ground at Yucca wouldn’t be hard. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/11 "2005-04-06T15:31:09Z")
> [@](#): > > That would be a challenge. Not really; they have armored, nearly unbreakable transports and send them along with soldiers to be sure. Digging out more ground at Yucca wouldn’t be hard. I’m having a hard time imagining how you can possibly fake data on Yucca Mountain, anyway. What are they going to say? It’s a mountain in a wasteland and no one wants to be near it. That’s the whole reason it was chosen. That and Arizons has very little influence in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/12 "2005-04-06T18:24:25Z")
Well, for my money, we have to put the waste somewhere. If we can’t put it in the wastelands of the West, where the hell _can_ we put it? That’s a question we’d better answer soon, because as oil dwindles, and as we switch to a hydrogen economy, we may need a _lot_ more nuclear energy to separate hydrogen for our cars. That stuff’s got to go in somebody’s back yard, and the desert seems the best of what may only be bad options. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/13 "2005-04-06T18:27:07Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > That stuff’s got to go in somebody’s back yard, and the desert seems the best of what may only be bad options. And when we’re overrun by irradiated Tor Johnsons, you’ll be sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/14 "2005-04-06T18:29:34Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > I’m having a hard time imagining how you can possibly fake data on Yucca Mountain, anyway. What are they going to say? As I understand it, the argument is over whether surface water penetrates to the level where the waste is stored, and whether that surface water might one leach nuclear waste into the ground water below. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/15 "2005-04-06T18:32:14Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > And when we’re overrun by irradiated Tor Johnsons, you’ll be sorry. I wouldn’t want to be overrun by Tor Johnsons of either the radiated or _non_-radiated variety. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/16 "2005-04-06T20:03:03Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Well, for my money, we have to put the waste somewhere. If we can’t put it in the wastelands of the West, where the hell _can_ we put it? That’s a question we’d better answer soon, because as oil dwindles, and as we switch to a hydrogen economy, we may need a _lot_ more nuclear energy to separate hydrogen for our cars. > > That stuff’s got to go in somebody’s back yard, and the desert seems the best of what may only be bad options. There’s actually a couple of reactor designs out there like CANDU and IFR that can use the waste materials from conventional reactor cores to generate electricity. The waste from those reactors is significantly more compact and less hazardous than that from conventional reactors. I’m not sure, but I think that so called “pebble bed” reactors can also use the waste from conventional reactors. IAC all three designs are vastly superior to conventional reactors, if for no other reason that there’s no danger they’ll ever go critical. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-little-nuclear-waste-among-friends/297919/17 "2005-04-06T20:13:41Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > If we can’t put it in the wastelands of the West, where the hell _can_ we put it? The wastelands of the east? Or, alternately, Florida. When it gets full, we just lop it off and set it adrift… 😉