Nobody likes the stuff.
Proposals for getting rid of it have ranged from dropping it into ocean trenches to shooting it into space. But the most practical scheme for disposing of spent nuclear fuel and other high-level waste is to bury it in rock formations so stable that even after thousands of years they won't permit the escape of radioactive substances as gases, liquids, or particles. Since the early 1980s scientists have been investigating a more peaceful use for this barren landscape, as a final resting place for the nation's spent nuclear fuel. The nature and history of Yucca Mountain's rock formations, the flow of water through them, and the risks of earthquakes or volcanoes are only a few of the questions that must be answered. In collaboration with researchers from other National Laboratories, scientists from Berkeley Lab's Earth Sciences Division have taken a major role in a crucial series of tests that will determine the Yucca Mountain repository's fate.