Health standard for dump decided
The Environmental Protection Agency announced its radiation health standard for Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a proposed system of caverns 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas where the government hopes to keep highly radioactive nuclear waste.
The EPA said the dump must be designed to ensure that people living near it a million years from now are exposed to no more than 100 millirems of radiation annually -- equivalent to about half a dozen X-rays.
The dump is scheduled to open in 2020 if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves its license application.
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