Below the layers of Yucca Mountain
A retired USGS geologist shares his experience of working on the publicly misunderstood nuclear waste repository and its geology.

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Dry Ice Blasting: A Game-Changer for Safe Cleaning and Decontamination in Nuclear Power Plants
A retired USGS geologist shares his experience of working on the publicly misunderstood nuclear waste repository and its geology.
DOE awards contracts for nationwide LLW and MLLW services
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced yesterday the awards of five basic ordering agreements to conduct nationwide low-level and mixed low-level radioactive...
EPA approves expanded waste storage at WIPP
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the addition of two new waste emplacement panels at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Department of Energy’s geologic repository for...
Oyster Creek submits plan to terminate its NRC license
Holtec International has submitted a license termination plan (LTP) for Oyster Creek nuclear power plant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a milestone in the decommissioning of the boiling...
NWTRB schedules meeting on DOE waste management progress
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board announced it will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, August 27, to review information on the Department of Energy’s activities to manage spent...
Deep geologic repository progress—2025 Update
Editor's note: This article has was originally published in November 2023. It has been updated with new information as of June 2025.Outside my office, there is a display case filled with rock...
Trump expels all but one member of nuclear waste oversight board
The Trump administration has dismissed seven of the (formerly) eight board members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the independent federal agency tasked with evaluating the...
New model simulates radionuclide migration in geologic disposal systems
Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Orléans, have modeled radionuclide...
NRC may allow ANO to use decommissioning funds for early disposal work
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering allowing Entergy to use a portion of the decommissioning trust fund (DTF) for the Arkansas Nuclear One nuclear power plant to dispose of...
ANS joins others in seeking to discuss SNF/HLW impasse
The American Nuclear Society joined seven other organizations to send a letter to Energy Secretary Christopher Wright on July 8, asking to meet with him to discuss “the restoration of a...
World Bank, IAEA partner to fund nuclear energy
The World Bank and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement last week to cooperate on the construction and financing of advanced nuclear projects in developing countries,...