molybdenum the metal of the 21st century

The 11,000 containers at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility could require as much as 33 million pounds of molybdenum. The inner container would be made of Type 316L stainless steel (2.2 percent Mo) and nickel-base Alloy 22 (13.5 percent Mo) for the outer container. Will there be sufficient molybdenum roasting capacity to provide enough of the corrosive-resistant element for these containers required in the next decade?

What’s the urgency to get Yucca Mt on line? Today the country’s 104 nuclear plants and the nuclear weapons program have produced 40, 000 metric tons of spend fuel. By 2035 it will be two and a half times that. Most of that waste is currently stored in 33 states at a few Dept. of Energy sites and at the sites of 72 nuclear power plants in what are euphemistically called “swimming pools.” These were designed as temporary storage sites where the risks of dangerous failures are increasing over time. So something must be soon with the existing waste let alone what is to come. And even if we get started now it will be 2010 before any waste goes underground. It will take that long to build out the necessary infrastructure for handling this very nasty stuff.