Editing Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository (section)

== Facility ==
[[File:Tour group entering North Portal of Yucca Mountain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A tour group entering the North Portal of Yucca Mountain]]

The purpose of the Yucca Mountain project is to comply with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and develop a national site for spent nuclear fuel and high-level [[radioactive waste]] storage. The management and operating contractor as of April 1, 2009 for the project is USA Repository Services (USA-RS), a wholly owned subsidiary of [[URS Corporation]] (now part of AECOM) with supporting principal subcontractors [[The Shaw Group|Shaw Corporation]] (now part of McDermott International Inc.) and [[Areva]] Federal Services LLC (now Orano federal services business).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-awards-contract-usa-repository-services-management-and-operating|title=U.S. Department of Energy Awards a Contract to USA Repository Services for Management and Operating Contractor Support for the Yucca Mountain Project|website=Energy.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref>

After the layoff of 800 employees on March 31, 2009, about 100 employees remained on the project until all technical staff were laid off by the end of fiscal year 2010<ref>{{cite web |title=Little hope, help for displaced DOE contract workers |url=https://www.eenews.net/stories/94642 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825105001/https://www.eenews.net/stories/94642 |archive-date=2017-08-25 |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=eenews.net}}</ref> due to zero funding in the 2011 budget for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.<ref>{{cite web |title=United States Government – Department of Energy – Memorandum |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/OAS-FS-11-03.pdf |website=energy.gov |pages=5}}</ref> [[Sandia National Laboratories]] was responsible for post-closure analysis and ensuring compliance with the NWPA. The main tunnel of the Exploratory Studies Facility is U-shaped, {{convert|5|mi|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|25|ft|abbr=on}} wide.<ref name="10 CFR 63">[http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.cfr/cfr2002026&div=10&collection=cfr&set_as_cursor=0&men_tab=srchresults&terms=63.&type=matchall 10&nbsp;CFR&nbsp;63].</ref>

There are also several cathedral-like alcoves that branch from the main tunnel. Most of the scientific experiments were conducted in these alcoves. The emplacement drifts (smaller-diameter tunnels branching off the main tunnel) where waste would have been stored were not constructed since they required authorization from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.<ref name="10 CFR 63"/> The repository has a statutory limit of {{convert|77000|MT|ST}}.<ref>{{cite news |author=Neff |first=Erin |date=April 16, 2006 |title=Erin Neff: The arbitrary science of Yucca Mountain |url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Apr-16-Sun-2006/opinion/6858785.html |newspaper=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]}}</ref>

To store that much waste would have required {{convert|40|mi|km}} of tunnels.<ref name="2008news"/> The Nuclear Waste Policy Act further limits the capacity of the repository to {{convert|63000|MT}} of initial heavy metal in commercial spent fuel. The 104 U.S. commercial reactors then operating were expected to produce this quantity of spent fuel by 2014,<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.nae.edu/nae/bridgecom.nsf/weblinks/MKEZ-5S3Q6M?OpenDocument 
 |title=Will the United States Need a Second Geologic Repository? 
 |last=Peterson 
 |first=Per F. 
 |volume=33 
 |issue=3 
 |date=Fall 2003 
 |publisher=[[United States National Academy of Engineering]] 
 |access-date=2008-05-16 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321033140/http://www.nae.edu/nae/bridgecom.nsf/weblinks/MKEZ-5S3Q6M?OpenDocument 
 |archive-date=March 21, 2008 
}}</ref> assuming that the spent fuel rods are not reprocessed. Currently, the US has no civil reprocessing plant.

{{update|section|date=February 2017}}

[[File:Yucca Mountain TBM.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[tunnel boring machine]] on display at the exit of the tunnel]]

By 2008, Yucca Mountain was one of the most studied pieces of geology in the world;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal/yucca-lic-app/references.html |date=2012-03-29 |title=References cited by U.S. Department of Energy for Yucca Mountain License Application |publisher=United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission |access-date=2014-03-07}}</ref> between geologic studies and materials science,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/235546.pdf |date=1997-04-01 |last=McCright |first=R. Daniel |title=Engineered Materials Characterization Report for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project: Volume 3 Revision 1 |publisher=Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |access-date=2014-03-07}}</ref> the United States had invested $9 billion in the project.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who pays for Yucca Mountain? |url=http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ym_repository/index.shtml#4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822205714/http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ym_repository/index.shtml |archive-date=August 22, 2008 |access-date=2008-05-16 |publisher=Yucca Mountain Repository, U.S. Department of Energy}}</ref> This site studied by the [[Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology]] (NBMG) differs substantially from other potential repositories because of its natural analogues of nuclear material, which are being studied.<ref>{{citation |title=Volcanic Rock Hosted Deposits in Northern Nevada |last=Castor |first=Stephen |year=1996 |publisher=University of Nevada Reno |citeseerx=10.1.1.214.2835}}</ref> The DOE estimates that it has over 100 million gallons of highly radioactive waste and {{convert|2500|MT|ST}} of spent fuel from the production of nuclear weapons and from research activities in temporary storage.<ref>{{cite web
 | url= http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02191.pdf
 | title= Nuclear Waste: Technical, Schedule, and Cost Uncertainties of the Yucca Mountain Repository Project
 |date=December 2001 |publisher=[[United States General Accounting Office]]
 | access-date=May 16, 2008}}</ref>

The facility's cost is being paid for by a combination of a tax on each kilowatt hour of nuclear power and by taxpayers for disposal of weapons and naval nuclear waste. Based on the 2001 cost estimate, about 73% is funded by consumers of nuclear-powered electricity and 27% by taxpayers.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/about/budget/pdf/tslccr1.pdf
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529181937/http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/about/budget/pdf/tslccr1.pdf
 |archive-date=2008-05-29 |title=Analysis of the Total System Life Cycle Cost of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program
 |date=May 2001
 |publisher=OCRWM, DoE
 |access-date=2008-05-16
}}
</ref>

The Total System Life Cycle Cost Director Sproat presented to Congress on July 15, 2008, was $90 billion. This cost could not be compared to previous estimates since it included a repository capacity about twice as large as previously estimated over a much longer period of time (100 years vs. 30 years). Additionally, the cost of the project continued to escalate because of insufficient funding to most efficiently move forward and complete the project. By 2007, the DOE announced it was seeking to double the size of the Yucca Mountain repository to a capacity of {{convert|135000|MT|ST}}, or 300 million pounds.<ref>{{cite news
 | url= http://www.lvrj.com/news/10257277.html
 | title= Agency studies nearly doubling nuclear waste capacity
 | last= Tetreault | first= Steve
 | date= October 5, 2007 | newspaper= [[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]
 | access-date= May 16, 2008}}</ref>

The [[tunnel boring machine]] (TBM) that excavated the main tunnel cost $13 million and was {{convert|400|ft|abbr=on}} long when in operation. It now sits at its exit point at the South Portal (south entrance) of the facility. The short side tunnel alcoves were excavated using explosives.<ref>{{cite news |author=Grove |first=Benjamin |date=March 6, 2006 |title=Getting to the bottom of Yucca Mountain |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2006/mar/06/getting-to-the-bottom-of-yucca-mountain/ |newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]]}}</ref>