Nuclear Power Plants Sue Over Waste Site

Lawsuit Is A Reminder: 50 Years Of Nuclear Waste Has No Central Repository Eight power companies that own nuclear reactors, and the Goshute Indian tribe, have sued the federal government over its rejection of a plan to store the nation's nuclear waste on a Utah reservation. The lawsuit highlights the unstable nature and uncertain future of nuclear waste disposal -- and even the uncertain nature of the term "disposal" in this context. Nuclear waste remains dangerously radioactive for thousands of years, and the best solution any one has yet to come up with for disposing of it is to store it deep underground in metal casks that are as indestructible as possible. For 50 years, nuclear waste -- 4,400 tons and counting -- at the nation's 104 nuclear reactors has been building up, and is typically stored at the plants themselves. Critics say that poses an ongoing risk to local communities, since even hyper-secure facilities face the risk of accident, equipment failure or terrorist attack. But finding a state willing to accept a waste repository has proved so far impossible, leading power companies to the sovereign nation of the Goshutes. As the nation debates its energy policy for the coming years, as global warming prompts a wholesale re-ordering of our fuel source makeup, nuclear is getting its first serious look in a generation. The same is happening around the world. But those plans should move slowly without a solution to the very real, very present and so-far intractable problem of nuclear waste. Related Stories U.S. Nuclear Power Plants: Vulnerable To Earthquake? Nuclear Power Plant In Japan Is Surprised By Earthquake See Worldwide Earthquake Maps In Real Time