Yucca Mountain, a flat-topped ridge in the Nevada desert, was confirmed last
week as the site of one of the world’s largest radioactive waste dumps. It will
be the final resting place for the 77,000 tonnes of American nuclear waste. The
decision has provoked fierce opposition from Nevada state governor Kenny Guinn,
who has filed a legal suit against it. Environmentalists claim that geological
faults criss-crossing the mountain could allow radioactivity to leak into water
supplies.
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