NATION : Nuclear Waste Dump Delay Urged

Technical experts of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the Energy Department today that it should delay sinking two experimental shafts at a proposed high-level nuclear waste dump in Nevada until further study of problems, including possible earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In comments on the department’s site characterization plan for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, the NRC staff said the department had erred by treating the shafts as though they were merely test drilling and would not be part of the dump if it is established.

Robert Bernero, chief of waste disposal for the NRC, said the shafts would be “the first major holes to be dug into the Yucca Mountain formation.”