On 12/4/2008 3:21 PM dpb spake thus:

Oren wrote:

What about earthquakes at Yucca Mt.?

Just yesterday Vegas had a small quake.

What about them? If worst were to come to worst, it will simply bury
the waste underground. Meanwhile, the facility is designed to
accommodate seismic activity. There are far more real dangers and
boogey men to worry over in this world.

You obviously don't know what the hell you're talking about.

One of the requirements for any high-level nuclear waste repository
(such as Yucca Mountain) is that the waste be both monitored and
retrievable. They don't just chuck it in there willy-nilly and figure
"out of sight, out of mind". Mind you, these are DOE's rules, not those
written by some granola-munching tree hugger.

So earthquakes do pose significant risks, and you can be sure that the
DOE is paying attention to the reports they get from the USGS.


--
Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

- Paulo Freire