Court Says Government Must Take Nuke Waste

The government must begin accepting tons of used fuel from the nuclear industry by 1998 even though a permanent storage site will not be ready by then, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Although the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia did not specify how the Energy Department should meet the deadline, the department’s options essentially are limited to developing and operating a temporary storage site before the permanent one is constructed.

Although the law required completion of the permanent storage site by 1998, the Energy Department still is conducting feasibility studies for an underground site in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles from Las Vegas.