Two Geological Repositories

There are two major geological repositories in the United States for the disposal of high-level radioactive materials. Yucca Mountain in Nevada was approved by Congress as a deep geological repository for spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste in 2002. However, funding has been cut off since 2011 as Nevada’s Congressional delegation is opposed to accepting high-level nuclear wastes generated in other states.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or “WIPP” in New Mexico is an underground salt bed 2,000 feet below the surface. Since 1999, the natural salt formation has been used to store defense-related transuranic waste from the Department of Energy sites. This facility was closed in 2014 after an incident but reopened in 2017 and could receive some of Hanford’s transuranic waste.