Yucca mountain to open in 2017
The Christian Science Monitor: The Department of Energy has finally announced a timeline for Nevada's Yucca mountain nuclear waste storge site to start receiving the 50,000 tons of radioactive spent fuel rods from the US nuclear industry. The date, 2017, is 19 years behind the facility's original schedule. The delays have caused frustration in the nuclear industry, as well as among state governments, who recently sued the DoE to take the waste that has been piling up near power stations. An added urgency to opening Yucca mountain is the expected increase in building new US nuclear power plants over the next few years, as power demands, the high price of oil, and concerns about global warming, make nuclear power more attractive as a energy source.
