Yucca Mt. licensing review starts
Federal regulators took a first step toward allowing a radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain, agreeing to formally review the government’s license application for the repository.
It will take the Nuclear Regulatory Commission up to four years to consider the Energy Department’s 8,600-page application and decide whether to grant permission to build the dump designed for 77,000 tons of waste, which couldn’t open before 2020.
The commissioners’ decision came over objections from the state of Nevada. The dump site is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Nearly $14 billion has been spent on the repository, and the total cost is now $96.2 billion.
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