LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reversing an earlier decision, and setting a June 1 deadline to decide if the federal Department of Energy can withdraw its application to build a national radioactive waste dump in Nevada.
In an order issued Friday in Rockville, Md., the NRC cites lawsuits and what it calls “unique circumstances” of the effort to stop more than 25 years of planning the Yucca Mountain repository.
Most Nevada officials don’t want the dump built 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
President Barack Obama is proposing no budget for it.
And the Energy Department says it has authority to withdraw its license application.
But states that planned to ship nuclear waste to Nevada, including Washington and South Carolina, are suing to prevent the government from killing the project.
