Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the Universe

Chapter 23: The Paleozoic Era

Problem of the Week

The Salt of Earth

For this problem, students must recall the concepts they have learned in their study of geology and the environment. In considering the factors that would be important in developing a permanent storage facility, they must take this recalled information and understand its application to this real-world problem.

The Activity – one way to organize it:

  • Discuss with your students some of the problems associated with storing nuclear wastes on the surface.

  • Following this discussion, have each student take 5 minutes to list the factors that her or she believes would be important to consider in selecting a nuclear storage site.

  • Organize students into small groups to share their lists and to create group lists and explanations as to why the factors they chose would be important.

  • Have a recorder list all the factors on the board or overhead.

  • Categorize the factors using the categories listed in the "Problem" section.

  • Finally, as a class, try to determine if there was any important issue not discussed.

Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is probably the top candidate site for a permanent nuclear waste repository. The nuclear material is to be stored in a layer of volcanic rock. Although this is not a halite deposit, many of the same factors can be applied to the site. The same issues that your students will discuss have been explored over many years during the development plan for this site. The Web sites listed below are excellent resources that provide information on the timeline, the requirements, and the laws governing nuclear waste transport and disposal. As a follow up to this activity, you might have your students investigate the information regarding the Yucca Mountain site. They can compare the factors that make the Yucca Mountain site useable for the storage of nuclear material with the factors they determined were important.

Resources and References:

  1. Glencoe Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the Universe. p. 613

  2. Evaporites

  3. Desert USA: Halite

  4. Holt, Mark, 1998. Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel: Temporary Storage Options.
    Congressional Research Service: Report for Congress. Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division.

  5. Yucca Mountain Project

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