Storage of Nuclear Waste and Other Radiation "Products" -- New Mexico and Texas Fighting for the "Precious"

It is such a travesty that humans continue making more radionuclides. We need to stop. The trick of turning matter into energy looks like a free lunch at first blush, but in reality is the most expensive and dangerous lunch we have ever had rammed down our throats.

That said, I agree that we need to do something with the waste we have. At the rate we are going I see around less than 50 to 100 year survival of the human race, especially once the Pacific is truly dead and the added stressors cause more people to lash out and terrorists attack the ground stored super bombs called "spent fuel".

 So we should do something to kick the can down the road in a "retrievable way". For basic safety, the nuclear waste needs to be stored underground, but it is absolutely essential that it accessible and retrievable, even if very difficult. You can see what happened at WIPP, they mixed up a potion they couldn't control, then the salt walls and ceiling which were supposed to "seal" the waste by creeping in at few inches a year decided that it preferred to come crashing down instead.

So what will happen when these 500,000 barrels already in WIPP are all corroded (that is the plan actually, not a conspiracy) and all the substances mix together and separate out by density? An underground super bomb? Or a belching mini-OKLO under ground reactor sending up radioactive gases and occasional "puffs" of Plutonium? Would there be any fix possible? Certainly not.

Human will cannot even handle the current messes we have, much less this much more dangerous mess that we are hurtling towards.

 That comprises my argument that it must be retrievable and accessible. I would also argue that in a runaway reaction, we also need the ability for a "hail Mary" collapse and fill of the mine and mine shafts. Explosive devices....a last ditch effort to extend our time on this planet.

Instead we have propaganda, i.e. the new nukist playbook, that storing waste at ground level is now determined "safe" by the NRC".    

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Now I hear that even the dry casks are getting chintzier and of inferior construction. Certainly if we kick the can, we need to kick it at least 50 to 100 years. Like the tanks at Hanford that are already past their design life, and doing what is expected, contaminating the ground water, our drinking water. Yucca mountain is a lousy choice and always was. There is an important water table right below it. So let's do something.....but do it RIGHT