Lander County- Fact Sheets

If the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository is opened, the Town of Battle Mountain and the County of Lander face the prospect of truck and/or railroad shipments of high-level nuclear waste moving through the community. If the  shipments are by truck they may pass directly through the town on Interstate 80. If the shipments are by rail, some may traverse the town, but the majority would travel on the Union Pacific line north of Battle Mountain assuming the primary point of entry is eastern Nevada.

Downtown Battle Mountain, Lander County, Nevada

Nuclear Waste Explained The nuclear waste destined for a repository at Yucca Mountain is called spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. This waste will be in solid form such as metals, ceramics, and glass with small amounts of radioactive gases. Note: Links take you to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management site.

Fact sheet - Frequently Asked Questions: Yucca Mountain and Used Nuclear Fuel Management (pdf file)

State of Nevada - Nevada study shows Yucca Mountain Project will cost much more than storing nuclear waste at existing reactor sites (pdf-49K)

State of Nevada - Cost of Yucca Mountain Vastly Exceeds That of Continued Interim at-Reactor Storage (pdf-13K)

Mike Thorne and Associates Limited - Comparing Yucca Mountain’s Cost With That of Interim Storage (pdf-107K)

Information about nuclear reactors

Pressurized water reactors keep water under pressure so that it heats, but does not boil. Water from the reactor and the water in the steam generator that is turned into steam never mix. In this way, most of the radioactivity stays in the reactor area.

Boiling water reactors actually boil the water. In both types, water is converted to steam, and then recycled back into water by a part called the condenser, to be used again in the heat process. Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Schematic showing delivery of high-level waste to Yucca Mountain

1- Delivering—Canisters of nuclear waste, sealed in special casks, are shipped to the site by truck or train and inspected at the security gate. The casks containing the spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste will be separated and moved into the Carrier Preparation Building to be sealed in permanent containers.

2– Processing—Shipping casks are removed and in the inner tube with the waste is placed in a steel multilayered storage container. Any last decontamination and measurement of the cask’s internal temperature is taken before it is welded shut and placed on a cart for storage in the mountain.

3– Submerging—An automated system sends the storage containers underground to the tunnel. Two electric locomotives, one on each end of the waste package transporter, wcould move the waste package down a 10,000-foot railed ramp into the mountain.

4– Storing– The containers are stored on their sides along several parallel tunnels deep in the earth. The proposed depth of the dump is about 1,200 feet below the surface, but still about 800 feet above the water table in a very hard rock called volcanic tuff.

5– Containing—five different types of vessels will be used to permanently store spent nuclear fuel from commercial power reactors, spent nuclear fuel owned by the U.S. Department of Energy—including naval fuel—and canisters of solidified high-level radioactive waste from prior commercial and defense fuel reprocessing operations, some of which would contain cans of immobilized plutonium.

A titanium drip shield will be placed over the containers before the repository is closed. The shield protects from falling rocks and dripping waterUp to 63,000 metric tons of commercial spent nuclear fuel and 7,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste and DOE spent nuclear fuel will be packed into hundreds of double line drums—the outside is made of a corrosion-resistant nickel-based alloy and the inside is a stainless steel cylinder. The drums—once loaded with the nuclear material—are filled with helium gas to prevent oxidation and help dissipate heat, capped on both ends with two lids and welded shut.

Depending on what kind of nuclear waste is being stored in them, canisters can vary in length from almost 12 feet to almost 20 feet and vary in diameter from 6 feet to 7 feet. They each can hold from 84,000 pounds to 159,000 pounds of nuclear waste.