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â€Å"Two minutes† says Teal Krech as he replies to a question posed to him bye an interested intern from within his cubicle at the â€Å"Village Voice† headquarters. The question he was answering was â€Å"How long can a human being survive unshielded radiation exposure from a broken fuel rod?† Teal achieved this research from the DoE (Department of Energy) who to this point â€Å"has no set plan for the transportation of the spent nuclear fuel rods through our major cities and states on their way to ultimate storage in the bowels of Yucca Mountain†(Krech 2002). Yucca Mountain, located approximately 100 miles Northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, is the site that President George Bush has endorsed for serious consideration as the location in which to store the nations nuclear waste. This nuclear waste, currently stored at 131 reactor sites around the nation, originates from nuclear fuel rods used for nuclear power generation, and national defense and weapons pr ograms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since 1978 the Department of Energy has been studying Yucca Mountain. They have been trying to determine whether it would be suitable for the long-term geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive wastes. In that time period and billions of American dollars spent of scientific research on everything from the potential seepage into groundwater to microbial growth within the Alcoves already trenched into the mountain’s core. Yucca Mountain has been determined the safest place in North America for such a site. The Department of transportation has sank nearly three decades of research and money into the site and have just this year began developing a concise transportation plan for the movement of this nuclear waste throughout our country to the Yucca Mountain site, says Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis. â€Å"With the licensing procedures expected to take 3 years† (Abraham 2002) and that license only granted through the construction period of the site, at which point and time the Department of Energy will have to reapply for licensing before they can begin to receive wastes, the project is at least 8 years away from completion. I personally think that eight years allows plenty of time for further development of transportation methods and protocols that will guarantee the safe movement and containment of this waste through our major cities. The Department of Energy will probably come up with special containers that will be specifically designed to withstand even the most violent of turnovers and impacts, just like they have done for the transportation of gaseous cyanide and chlorine which are transported bye truck and rail every day.