Yucca Mountain

Mountain ridge (length 10 km/6 mi; height 1,544 m/5,064 ft) in Nye County, southwest Nevada, 160 km/100 mi northwest of Las Vegas. Since 1987, Yucca Mountain has been under preparation as the only permanent repository in the USA for high-level radioactive waste. The site, which is the subject of much controversy, is scheduled to open in 2010.

Yucca Mountain is located at the southwestern corner of Nellis Air Force Range, west of the Nevada Test Site and east of the Amargosa Desert. The dry desert conditions on the ridge are thought to be ideal for retarding the inevitable corrosion of nuclear waste containers, which will hold material that remain hazardous for 10,000 years. However, objections have been raised by environmentalists about the unpredictable nature of local water courses, as well as the site's proximity to potentially active volcanoes and fault lines.