Nevada wants feds to declare mothballed nuke dump plan dead
After a decade in limbo, Nevada is pressing U.S. nuclear regulators to finally kill a mothballed proposal to entomb the nation’s most radioactive waste in the desert north of Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — After a decade in limbo, Nevada is pressing U.S. nuclear regulators to finally kill a mothballed proposal to entomb the nation’s most radioactive waste beneath a windswept volcanic ridge north of Las Vegas.
“The time has come to put this long-dormant and unproven federal project out of its misery,” the state said in a document submitted Tuesday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about to the Yucca Mountain project. “Fundamental fairness requires that this proceeding be ended if possible."
The NRC, which regulates and licenses U.S. nuclear power plants and the handling of radioactive material, offered no immediate comment about the state request. Commission spokesman David McIntyre said the panel would review it.
The document urges the federal agency to reopen its review and finally end 40 years of Energy Department efforts to prove the Yucca Mountain site would be a safe place to put highly radioactive waste shipped in from power plants across the nation.
