published by WISE News Communique on March 24, 1995

 In a front-page story March 5, 1995, The New York Times reported that two scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are warning that storage of high level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, could lead to atomic explosions.

(429.4236) WISE Amsterdam - The scientists' concerns had been kept largely secret, but apparently are receiving serious consideration by the scientific community.

Reportedly, Dr. Charles Bowman has warned that plutonium stored at Yucca Mountain would remain long after the steel casks holding it dissolve. At that point, the plutonium could migrate and concentrate, while the rock in the mountain could actually accelerate a chain reaction and subsequent explosion. Bowman suggests using a particle accelerator to transmute the plutonium into other elements before disposal. This approach probably would be preferable to environmentalists than attempting to transmute the plutonium in a reactor. Another possibility, according to Bowman, would be to bury the waste instead of the soluble Yucca Mountain rock. This would require searching for a new dumpsite - a politically difficult endeavor.

The odds that Yucca Mountain will ever be found suitable for a permanent for a permanent radioactive waste dump appear slimmer and slimmer - even as Congress is attempting to legislate ad "interim" dump at the Yucca Mountain site.

The revelations prompted an angry senator to announce that he will soon introduce legislation to establish an independent review of the nuclear waste program.

Source: The Nuclear Monitor (VS), 13 March 1995
Contact: Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), 1424 16th Street NW, Suite 404, Washington DC 20036, USA.
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