Bechtel Wins $1-Billion Job

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department today awarded Bechtel Group Inc. a 10-year contract valued at up to $1 billion to develop a system for safe, permanent disposal of radioactive nuclear waste and spent fuel.

A subsidiary created specifically for the job, Bechtel Systems Management Inc., will become the department’s “super-manager” for overall design and analysis for the nation’s commercial nuclear waste disposal system, a spokesman, Phil Garon, said. The department’s first choice for the proposed repository is a volcanic ash formation in Yucca Mountain, Nev., about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.