Nuclear scientist Question:

Download Questions PDF

Another unsolved problem is how to safely transport nuclear material across the country. During the decades long debate over storing the nation’s radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, transportation experts estimated that waste disposal from existing nuclear plants would require 1 truck, every 4 hours, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year for 38 years. They estimated that over the same period there would be 130 truck and 440 rail accidents. Each transport container heading to Yucca would hold enough radiation to create a devastating dirty bomb. Shipments would need to travel through 43 states, within one half mile of the homes of tens of millions of people, and through more than 100 of America’s largest cities. Barge shipments would move through 17 port cities on the Atlantic seaboard and through the drinking water of the Great Lakes via Lake Michigan. Do we want to build new nuclear power plants when we have yet to figure out a safe way to transport radioactive material across the country?