Robert Halstead, the director of the State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, spoke in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 24th at a Yucca Mountain educational event hosted by the Mayor of the City of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman. The event took place during the annual winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Beyond Nuclear attended the event, as did members of other environmental groups opposed to the highly radioactive waste dump long targeted at Yucca Mountain, NV. (More than a thousand environmental groups have opposed the Yucca dump over the past 30+ years, and still do.)
The title of Halstead's presentation was "Yucca Mountain Update and Transportation Impacts."
It should be pointed out that Beyond Nuclear, and many environmental allies, disagree with Halstead's position, stated on the final page of his power point presentation:
What Should Be Done? Implement BRC [Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future] recommendations on consolidated interim storage, with priority for shutdown reactors.
When Mayor Goodman then stated that Texas and New Mexico wanted to host centralized interim storage facilities (CISF) in their states, Karen Hadden of the SEED (Sustainable Energy & Economic Development) Coalition politely begged to differ. Karen -- an ally of Beyond Nuclear's in the fight against the Waste Control Specialists, LLC CISF targeted at Andrews County, TX, as well as the Holtec/Eddy-Lea [Counties] Energy Alliance CISF targeted at southeastern NM -- stated that TX and NM do not consent to these CISF schemes, a basic criterion required by the BRC's January 2012 Final Report itself.
Halstead also released an analysis of H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017. The analysis is posted online at the website of Dina Titus, Democratic U.S. Representative from Las Vegas, NV.
Although H.R. 3053 would, in enacted, authorize the CISFs targeted at TX and NM (and beyond), its main aim to expedite the opening of the Yucca dump, as well as to significantly increase the amount of highly radioactive waste that could be buried there (from 70,000 metric tons, to 110,000 metric tons).
This dramatic increase in the amount of highly radioactive waste to be buried at Yucca, would likewise increase the number of road, rail, and waterways shipments of irradiated nuclear fuel bound for Nevada along routes in 44 states plus the District of Columbia. As shown on Halstead's slide #5 of 12, the number of train cask shipments would increase from 9,495 to 21,909; the number of truck cask shipments would increase from 2,650 to 5,025.
See the following three reports prepared Dr. Fred Dilger, a consultant to the State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, on projected transportation impacts to cities, states, and congressional districts, from coast to coast, if the Yucca dump were to open:
For additional info., see the State of NV Agency for Nuclear Project's website, especially its Nuclear Waste Transportation sub-section.