End of the road for Yucca mountain

Abstract

After almost 25 years in the planning and almost £90bn wasted, the United States has abandoned its plans for a high-level nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. There are four types of nuclear waste, ranging from the very low level waste that can be disposed of commercially to the high level waste primarily spent fuel, which is of the greatest concern. This announcement for a deep geological storage repository has only created an atmosphere of uncertainty. It seems that the US has seen the light and will look elsewhere for its long-term storage options.