Land, Water Rights Needed For Nevada Nuclear Dump

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The federal Energy Department will need to acquire water and land rights before it gets approval to entomb the nation's most radioactive waste beneath a mountain in the Nevada desert, according to a report released Thursday by an the agency being asked to license the project. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission report said most administrative and program elements of the Yucca Mountain repository reviewed by NRC staff members meet commission requirements. But Nevada has refused for years to provide water to the site, leaving the Energy Department without necessary water rights. Robert Halstead, the Nevada official heading state opposition to the project, said the new report also pointed to the expiration of federal land set-asides around the mountain. "The land is not free of significant encumbrances such as mining rights, deeds ...Read more on NewsOK.com