en more densely packed cooling pools. (Shulman, 14)The cooling pools are a type of concrete warehouse. Inside the warehouses are steel caskets containing the spent fuel rods and cooling pools. Scientists say that the cooling pool prevents the spent fuel to explode, but the extreme weight of the fuel inside the warehouses might cause the structures to rupture, especially in the case of an earthquake. (Shulman, 15)A repository is a storage facility that stores high-level nuclear waste deep underground so the waste can not harm or effect people or the environment. (DOE's Yucca Mountain Studies) With the technology that we [humankind] have toady. Scientists believe it to be possible to make a repository somewhere. The guidelines of a repository are mainly if the geologic location will work out (i.e. will an earthquake be able to rupture it, will water be able to corrode the repositories outer wall.).To make sure that the repository would be able to stay unscathed for thousands of years, scientists in all areas of science are making predictions of what could happen over the time period. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, a repository may pose no greater threat than unmined uranium from which the high-level waste was produced.The repository the DOE is wanting to make has to be proven that it will still be isolated underground in 10,000. After this extensive time, the high-level waste should no longer be radioactive enough to harm the public health. (General Information)A rem is a unit scientist use to measure radiation exposure. Over a persons lifetime, they usually receive 7-14 rems of natural sources of radiation, such as cosmic rays and ultraviolet rays from the sun. On a single exposure of 5-75 rems, there are few to no noticeable symptoms. For someone to receive 75-200 rems of exposure, vomiting, fatigue, and loss of appetite would occur. Recovery would take a few weeks. If someone were to...
