The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Reactors and Low-level Waste Disposal Sites
This map shows the locations of the 104 operational nuclear reactors in the U.S. along with the three sites available for low-level radioactive waste storage. As this map shows, most of these reactors are in close proximity to a town, and most are located east of the Mississippi, where the benefit of the power accrues. On the other hand, the detrimental impacts of the nuclear fuel cycle (uranium mines, milling operations, current low-level waste sites, proposed high-level waste sites, and the tragic history of the the Nevada Nuclear Test Site) disproportionately exist in the Western United States. This is a direct result, not simply of the environmental resources of the West, but also of the political weakness of these areas, which become strapped with carrying the burdens of this purportedly "clean" energy source.
This map is maintained by The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah). HEAL Utah engages Utahns in efforts to protect public health from nuclear and toxic waste.
