The first edition of the World Nuclear Waste Report, focused on Europe in 2019, includes country studies on the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as a chapter on the United States. The report warns the 60,000 metric tons of highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel in Europe, and the more than 80,000 metric tons in the U.S., represent risks for the environment and human health, especially from reprocessing (chemical separation of fissile plutonium for re-use, which also risks nuclear weapons proliferation). The report warns that "Overall, there is a lack of comprehensive, quantitative and qualitative information on risks associated with nuclear waste." In her forward, Rebecca Harms, former German Green Party/Alliance 90 Member of the European Parliament -- a forty year campaigner against nuclear power -- warned that "Deep geological disposal is one of the most ambitious and most difficult tasks on earth."

 

And yet, given the worsening risks at the surface of the planet -- from warfare and terrorism, to climate chaos in the form of floods and extreme weather disasters, to the specter of nuclear weapons proliferation, to something as simple as age-related degradation of containers -- the dilemma of the existence of ultra-hazardous, forever-deadly high-level radioactive waste means we must keep searching for safe, sound deep geological disposal repositories. But they must meet basic, minimum criteria, including: scientific suitability; environmental justice; legality; regional equity; intergenerational equity; consent-based siting; minimization of transport risks; and more. Yucca Mountain, Nevada in the U.S. violates all these criteria, from guaranteed massive leakage into the environment over time, to compounding the harm Nevadans have already suffered from nuclear weapons testing (with a disproportionately high impact on those living indigenous lifeways), to violating the 1863 "peace and friendship" Treaty of Ruby Valley with the Western Shoshone Indian Nation, with no consent, while maximizing "East dumps on West" inequities and transport risks, even creating double standards regarding health protection for current and future generations. In the meantime, dangerously bad ideas, such as consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) in New Mexico and Texas, as well as Deep Isolation's borehole schemes, seek big bucks at the risk, liability, and expense of the public. (There is evidence that both the Holtec CISF in NM, and the Interim Storage Partners CISF in TX, would eventually attempt to reprocess their stored irradiated nuclear fuel, despite the high risks, if they could get away with it.) What can you do? Please contact your U.S. Representative, and both your U.S. Senators. You can reach their D.C. offices via the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Urge your Representative to oppose H.R. 2699, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act. Urge your Senators to oppose S. 1234, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act. Both bills would grease the skids for the opening of the Yucca dump, as well as CISFs. Urge your Congress Members to oppose funding for the Yucca dump and CISFs as well. Urge them to support bills like the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act (S. 649/H.R. 1544), as well as the STRANDED Act (S. 1985).