Yucca Mountain is a mountain in Nevada, near its border with California,. It is approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Las Vegas. Yucca Mountain is in the Great Basin. The mountain is east of the Amargosa Desert, south of the Nevada Test and Training Range and in the Nevada National Security Site. It is the site of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. As of 2021, laws have identified this site as the place where spent nuclear waste is to be stored. Because of politics, the funding of the site was cut in 2010.
Geology
Several large eruptionsd from a calderavolcano created Yucca Mountain. The mountain is composed of changing layers of different kinds of rock. The volcanic units have been tilted along fault lines. They formed the current ridge line called Yucca Mountain. In addition to these faults, Yucca Mountain is criss-crossed by fractures, many of which formed when the volcanic units cooled.
Cultural history
Yucca Mountain and surrounding lands were central in the lives of the Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute peoples, who shared them for religious ceremonies, resource uses, and social events; Yucca Mountain is still considered sacred by the Shoshone people living today.