Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Nuclear Waste Site Not Ready by 1998

The Energy Department has concluded it cannot have any facility ready to begin storing nuclear waste from the nation’s power plants by a 1998 deadline and will search military bases and nuclear weapons factories for temporary storage sites. Senior Energy Department officials said they envision withdrawing highly radioactive material from pools of water at power plants and transporting it to federally owned sites where it would be stored above ground in sealed casks. More than 20,000 metric tons of radioactive used fuel is stored in pools of water at nuclear power plants in 30 states.