Burying Uncertainty: Risk and the Case Against Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste

Shrader-Frechette discusses the problem of radioactive waste, with primary emphasis on that originating from nuclear reactors. She also focuses on the proposed radwaste-storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The early part of the book is a description of the effects of radiation. For example, depending upon radiation exposure models, a single 10-rad exposure would cause anywhere between 560 and 10,630 excess cancers among one million exposed persons. (p. 35) The author elaborates on many of the uncertainties regarding long-term predictions of radwaste storage. And, using Yucca Mountain as an example, one must come to the sobering realization that the uncertainties can be nonlinear and interactive (p. 162) Shrader-Frechette dwells on the logical fallacies used by proponents of long-term safe radwaste storage. For instance, the appeal to ignorance posits that absence of evidence of problems means that there will be no problems. Then there is the appeal to authority. Authorities have been wrong before, notably in matters related to risk assessments of radiation (p. 156)