Nuclear waste storage plan under review: scientists believe that proposed canisters would contain radioactivity for millennia

摘要

By passing the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S. Code 10101), the U.S. Congress directed the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (Washington, D.C.) to identify and develop repositories to permanently store spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants and high-level radioactive waste from defense facilities. Yucca Mountain, Nevada, located in a remote area ～100 miles (161 km) northwest of Las Vegas, may become the first such site.