(The Associated Press circulated the following article on April 26.)
WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy on Monday announced it was adding an extra week to comment on a plan to ship the nation’s nuclear waste to Nevada by train.
In a notice published in the Federal Register, the department also set dates for two additional public meetings on the rail plan that it added in response to Nevada officials’ concerns.
They will be in Las Vegas on May 10, at the Yucca Mountain Information Center, and in Reno on May 12, at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Three other previously scheduled meetings are May 3 in Amargosa Valley, May 4 in Goldfield and May 5 in Caliente.
The original 45-day comment period was to end May 24. It will now end June 1.
Nevada’s congressional delegation had sought an additional 45 days to collect comments.
The Energy Department hopes to open the Yucca Mountain dump six years from now, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The dump, which Nevada is fighting in court, would hold 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste.
To bring waste to the dump, the department plans 3,000 to 3,300 railroad shipments over 24 years from 39 states. Before going to the dump, the shipments would end up at a rail head near Caliente, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas near the Utah line. Exact rail line routes to Caliente have not been specified.