Alumnus discusses proposed radioactive waste site
Oct. 2, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- A Western Michigan University alumnus who now works with the Yucca Mountain Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory will talk about that project's proposed high-level radioactive waste repository when he returns to campus Friday, Oct. 12.
Dr. Charles D. Harrington, project leader for science and program management for the Yucca Mountain Project, will speak about "Surface Process Studies at Yucca Mountain, Nevada: Quaternary History of the Potential Site for the High-Level Radioactive Waste Repository" at 3 p.m. in Room 1118 of Rood Hall. His talk is free and open to the public.
Yucca Mountain is the proposed site in Nevada where high-level radioactive waste from all commercial nuclear reactors in the United States will be taken for permanent disposal deep underground. Study of the characteristics and viability of this site has been a massive scientific undertaking for the past several decades.
Harrington, who earned a bachelor's degree from WMU in 1966, is coming back to his alma mater to accept an Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Arts and Sciences. The college bestows the awards annually to alumni selected by individual departments within the college. Harrington was selected for the award by the WMU Department of Geosciences.
On staff at the Los Alamos National Laboratory since 1983, Harrington has been a consultant for various agencies and held academic positions at North Carolina and Murray state universities. A fellow of the Geological Society of America, he is the author or co-author of more than 30 articles, most of which are related to the Yucca Mountain region.
For more information, contact the WMU Department of Geosciences at (616) 387-5485.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu