Nevada seeks to nix govt nuclear waste storage plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The state of Nevada on Friday asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject the U.S. government’s plan to store thousands of tons of nuclear waste temporarily above ground at a mountain located about 90 miles from Las Vegas.

The Energy Department is set to file an application with the NRC in mid 2008 for a license to operate the
Yucca Mountain permanent nuclear storage repository in Nevada, which would hold radioactive waste underground from more than 100 nuclear power plants, along with the tons of leftovers from the U.S. nuclear weapons program.

The permanent storage site is years behind schedule and until it is ready, the department wants to place the nuclear waste temporarily above ground.

Nevada has vehemently opposed Yucca Mountain becoming the country’s nuclear waste dump, but has been overruled by the U.S. Congress. Blocking above ground interim storage at the site would delay the eventual arrival of any radioactive waste put permanently inside Yucca Mountain.

Reuters