Former U.S. RepresentativeShelley Berkley (D-NV) called Yucca Mountain Johnny "the Department of Energy's Joe Camel",[1] a reference to a cartoon mascot for the tobacco industry which drew criticism for targeting children. Former Representative Jon Porter (R-NV) stated that "to sell the Yucca Mountain Project to our children through the use of a cartoon character is an irresponsible and desperate act."[2]
DOE spokesperson Craig Stevens, however, defended Yucca Mountain Johnny, arguing that it "teaches hydrology, geology, and earth science", and that it is "part of our duty to explain to the public what we're doing."[1] Support for Yucca Mountain Johnny was present in the House of Representatives, with Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) stating that "nobody questions the accuracy or truth of what's on the Web site", and Representative David Hobson (R-OH) stating that it "may have a place in teaching kids."[3]
Berkley, who is a vocal opponent of a Yucca Mountain waste repository, attempted to add an amendment to an energy spending bill that would have prevented the funds from being used for the DOE Youth Zone web site.[3] The amendment was defeated, 271–147.
The Youth Zone now appears to have been removed from the DOE's website, although copies of the site can be found via the Wayback Machine.[4]
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, as well as manages the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy-related research, and energy conservation.
The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, as designated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act amendments of 1987, is a proposed deep geological repository storage facility within Yucca Mountain for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste in the United States. The site is on federal land adjacent to the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nevada, about 80 mi (130 km) northwest of the Las Vegas Valley.
The Nevada National Security Site, known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the city of Las Vegas. Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Grounds, the site was established in 1951 for the testing of nuclear devices. It covers approximately 1,360 square miles (3,500 km2) of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear weapons testing at the site began with a 1-kiloton (4.2 TJ) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951. Over the subsequent four decades, over 1,000 nuclear explosions were detonated at the site. Many of the iconic images of the nuclear era come from the site.
The United States's Emery nuclear test series was a group of 16 nuclear weapons tests conducted in 1970 and 1971. These tests followed the Operation Mandrel series and preceded the Operation Grommet series.
Joe Camel was an advertising mascot used by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) for their cigarette brand Camel. The character was created in 1974 for a French advertising campaign, and was redesigned for the American market in 1988. He appeared in magazine advertisements, clothing, and billboards among other print media and merchandise.
Rochelle "Shelley" Berkley is an American businesswoman, politician and attorney who served as the U.S. Representative for Nevada's 1st congressional district from 1999 to 2013. In 2012, she was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and is currently running in the upcoming 2024 Las Vegas Mayoral Election.
Jonathan Christopher "Jon" Porter is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, the first representative elected from the 3rd Congressional District of Nevada.
The Agency for Nuclear Projects is a part of the Nevada state government, under the administration of the Governor of Nevada. The organization is based in Carson City.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years. The storage rooms at the WIPP are 2,150 feet underground in a salt formation of the Delaware Basin. The waste is from the research and production of United States nuclear weapons only. The plant started operation in 1999, and the project is estimated to cost $19 billion in total.
The Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant is an electricity-generating facility located in Red Wing, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River, and adjacent to the Prairie Island Indian Community reservation.
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is a United States federal law which established a comprehensive national program for the safe, permanent disposal of highly radioactive wastes.
A deep geological repository is a way of storing hazardous or radioactive waste within a stable geologic environment. It entails a combination of waste form, waste package, engineered seals and geology that is suited to provide a high level of long-term isolation and containment without future maintenance. This will prevent any radioactive dangers. A number of mercury, cyanide and arsenic waste repositories are operating worldwide including Canada and Germany and a number of radioactive waste storages are under construction with the Onkalo in Finland being the most advanced.
The International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) is a forum of states and organizations that share a common vision of a safe and secure development of nuclear energy for worldwide purposes. Formerly the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), IFNEC began as a U.S. proposal, announced by United States Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman on February 6, 2006, to form an international partnership to promote the use of nuclear power and close the nuclear fuel cycle in a way that reduces nuclear waste and the risk of nuclear proliferation. This proposal would divide the world into "fuel supplier nations," which supply enriched uranium fuel and take back spent fuel, and "user nations," which operate nuclear power plants.
Area 25 is the largest named area in the Nevada National Security Site at 254 square miles (660 km2), and has its own direct access from Route 95. Area 25 is commonly called "Jackass Flats" because it is composed primarily of a shallow alluvial basin by that name.
High-level radioactive waste management concerns how radioactive materials created during production of nuclear power and nuclear weapons are dealt with. Radioactive waste contains a mixture of short-lived and long-lived nuclides, as well as non-radioactive nuclides. There was reportedly some 47,000 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste stored in the United States in 2002.
The nuclear energy policy of the United States began in 1954 and continued with the ongoing building of nuclear power plants, the enactment of numerous pieces of legislation such as the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and the implementation of countless policies which have guided the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy in the regulation and growth of nuclear energy companies. This includes, but is not limited to, regulations of nuclear facilities, waste storage, decommissioning of weapons-grade materials, uranium mining, and funding for nuclear companies, along with an increase in power plant building. Both legislation and bureaucratic regulations of nuclear energy in the United States have been shaped by scientific research, private industries' wishes, and public opinion, which has shifted over time and as a result of different nuclear disasters.
Allison M. Macfarlane directs the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. She is the former director of the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University, where she was Professor of Science Policy and International Affairs. She was the chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from July 9, 2012, to December 31, 2014.
The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board was established in the 1987 Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (NWPAA) to "...evaluate the technical and scientific validity of activities [related to managing and disposing of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste] undertaken by the Secretary [of Energy], including
site characterization activities; and
activities relating to the packaging or transportation of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel."
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 refers to appropriations bills introduced during the 113th United States Congress. There are two different versions: H.R. 2609 in the House of Representatives and S. 1245 in the Senate. The bill was later incorporated as Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, which was enacted in January 2014.
Robert Louis (Bob) Ferguson was a nuclear-trained physicist and a 60-year veteran in the field of nuclear energy. He was best known for being appointed the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Programs for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by the first Energy Secretary, James Schlesinger, serving from 1978 to 1980 during President Jimmy Carter's administration.
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