January

January 31, 2008 — Timetable announced for layoffs at Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON -- The managing contractor for the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain on Wednesday announced a schedule of layoffs totaling between 140 and 180 people through June — LRJ.com (Related Story)

January 25, 2008 — Republicans sponsor Yucca rescue measure — WASHINGTON -- Seven Republican senators announced a bill Thursday to revive the crippled Yucca Mountain Project. Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada declared it dead on arrival. "It is going nowhere," Reid said of the measure introduced by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. As majority leader, Reid has had the last word on nuclear waste bills. — Stephens Washington Bureau

January 24, 2008 — Criticism falls on DOE plan for rail line — Land sculpture is one concern — LRJ.com

January 23, 2008 — Senators push Yucca storage of nuke waste — USA Today

January 21, 2008 — Nuclear Revival - Rekindles Waste Concerns — Thousands of canisters of highly radioactive waste from the world's most nuclear-energized nation lie, silent and deadly, beneath this jutting tip of Normandy. Above ground, cows graze and Atlantic waves crash into heather-covered hills — AP

January 18, 2008 — Porter looks at recycling nuclear fuel — LRJ.com

January 18, 2008 — State of Nevada Comments — DOE’s Notice of Revised Proposed Policy and Request for Comments on the OCRWM Plan for the Implementation of Section 180(c) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (Federal Register/Vol. 72, No. 140/ Monday, July 23, 2007/Notices) — State of Nevada

January 17, 2008 — Clinton declares Yucca Mountain 'will be off the table forever' — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton put a national spotlight on Nevada's signature issue Wednesday, holding a discussion on Yucca Mountain before a full contingent of national media."When I am president, Yucca Mountain will be off the table forever," Clinton said. The New York senator said the proposed nuclear waste repository, about 100 miles from Las Vegas, was a national issue, because spent fuel rods would be transported through many states. She criticized the Bush administration for continuing the project despite botched science. — Las Vegas Review Journal

January 17, 2008 — Budget cuts Yucca transport hearings — Deadline past for formal comments on route — Although there've been plenty of hearings in Nevada on plans to build a repository at Yucca Mountain for disposing highly radioactive waste and the Department of Energy's vision for hauling it there on rail lines and roads, the odds of more formal hearings for people along transportation routes outside the state are slim to none. That was the word Wednesday from Gary Lanthrum, DOE's director of logistics management for the Yucca Mountain Project, who discussed the issue after his presentation on transportation topics to an independent panel of scientists reviewing the project's work — LRJ.com

January 16, 2008 — Yucca Mountain layoffs imminent, official warns —Application date might be missed — The nation's nuclear waste chief painted a dismal picture Tuesday of the Yucca Mountain Project's future, one that shows 500 layoffs and casts doubt on submitting a license application this summer. There are going to be significant layoffs, several hundred. They're going to come in waves," he told Nevada's Legislative Committee on High-Level Radioactive Waste — LRJ.com

January 14, 2008 — Reid Statement on Energy Department Announcement on Yucca Mountain — Harry Reid

January 11, 2007 — U.S. Nuclear Waste Repository Foes Speak Out TAKOMA PARK, Maryland, - A dozen national organizations, joined by 68 state and local grassroots groups from across the country, filed comments with the U.S. Department of Energy Thursday in opposition to the high-level radioactive waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada — ENS

January 2008 — NRC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Security Requirements for a Nuclear Waste Repository — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on a proposed rule that would amend security requirements for a high-level nuclear waste geologic repository proposed for Yucca Mountain, Nev. The agency will hold a public meeting Jan. 23 in Las Vegas to describe the proposed rule and receive public comments.

January 11, 2008 — Symbolically, a door closes for nuclear dump at Yucca — Washington — This may speak volumes about the status of the beleaguered Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump project: A chain-link fence now blocks the entrance to the tunnel that leads inside. The Energy Department’s contractor says daily operations at the nation’s planned nuclear waste repository are being put “on standby” in the face of massive budget cuts engineered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. All on-site jobs, save for a few sentries’, are being eliminated. More layoffs are on the way. Resources are being shifted at a critical juncture in the project’s life — Las Vegas Sun

January 08, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE lays off 63 workers — WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy on Monday disclosed it was dramatically scaling back at Yucca Mountain, laying off dozens of workers and shutting down nearly all activity at the nuclear waste site in response to deep budget cuts — Stephens Washington Bureau

January 01, 2008 — EDITORIAL: Nuclear power on the comeback trail — Which will put the focus on Yucca Mountain — LRJ.com

February

February 29, 2008 — DOE nuke waste priorities criticized — 'We are not going to have Yucca,' GOP lawmaker says — WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman was scolded Thursday by a House Republican who said the Department of Energy is "ignoring political realities" by pressing ahead at Yucca Mountain in the face of forceful opposition from Nevada — Stephens Washington Bureau

February 27, 2008 — Nevada told to take Yucca Mountain money — State official counters no such federal funding exists — LRJ.com

February 23, 2008 — Nuke industry seeks storage sites — Yucca uncertainty prompts campaign — WASHINGTON -- With uncertainties swirling around the proposed Nevada radioactive waste site, the nuclear industry has mounted a campaign to court communities that might be willing to host interim storage of its used fuel — Stephens Washington Bureau

February 18, 2008 — Lack of money spells uncertainty for Yucca nuke dump, DOE says — WASHINGTON -- Long-range prospects for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain are clouded because there is no fix in sight for budget shortfalls plaguing the Nevada program, a Department of Energy official said Monday — Stephens Washington Bureau

February 17, 2008 — As Nuclear Waste Languishes, Expense to U.S. Rises — WASHINGTON — Forgotten but not gone, the waste from more than 100 nuclear reactors that the federal government was supposed to start accepting for burial 10 years ago is still at the reactor sites, at least 20 years behind schedule. But it is making itself felt in the federal budget — New Yourk Times

February 17, 2008 — Yucca Mountain e-mails show staff yucked it up — LRJ.com

February 06, 2008 — More managers in pipeline for Yucca project — Most of the 25 positions would be in LV office — WASHINGTON -- Although beset with funding shortfalls that are prompting layoffs, at least one pocket of the Yucca Mountain Project is preparing to add to its work force. The Department of Energy plans to add 25 federal managers to the Nevada nuclear waste program this year, and has budgeted for another 50 in fiscal 2009, according to Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management — LRJ.com

February 04, 2008— President seeks $495M for Yucca in '09 — AP

March

March 29, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: License challenges could exceed 650 — Agency prepares to review construction application — WASHINGTON -- Nevada could launch between 250 and 500 license challenges to Yucca Mountain, state officials said, making the proposed radioactive waste repository by far the most contentious issue ever weighed by nuclear safety regulators — Las Vegas Review Journal

March 23, 2008 — Nuclear industry to push stopgap waste sites — Washington — The lobby of the headquarters of the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington features the organization’s name glowing in an artsy blue and white light projected on the floor. — Las Vegas Sun

March 17, 2008 — [Editorial] State officials must keep eyes on proposed Yucca strategies — Nevadans who continue to reject federal plans to establish a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain should look closely at a new strategy for shared responsibility with the private sector. State officials need to keep close watch on the progress of the plan. — RGJ.com

March 16, 2008 — Nuclear power industry reasserts itself after 3-decade lull — Sacbee.com

March 14, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE: Expect license application after all — Sproat says June back on track WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department has readjusted its Yucca Mountain work plans after a deep budget cut and will be ready after all to apply for a license in June to build a Nevada nuclear waste repository, the program director said Thursday — Stephens Washington Bureau

April

April 26, 2008 — Yucca delay may spur interim storage —Nuclear waste piling up at plants: WASHINGTON -- State legislators are adding their voices to those who have grown impatient at slow progress in establishing nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain — Stephens Washington Bureau

April 24, 2008 — Plan seeks temporary sites for nuclear waste storage — WASHINGTON -- A bill that has been prepared in the Senate envisions two temporary storage sites for nuclear waste -- one in the East and one in the West -- as a precursor to recycling highly radioactive reactor fuel rather than sending it to Yucca Mountain — Stephens Washington Bureau

April 24, 2008 — DOE's complaint against Nevada dismissed — WASHINGTON -- Nevada won a Yucca Mountain ruling at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday. A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to dismiss a Department of Energy complaint that state officials were withholding documents from a licensing database for the proposed nuclear waste repository — Stephens Washington Bureau

April 24, 2008 — Letter to Dale E. Klein, Chairman, NRC, Re: The NRC should not accept DOE's Yucca Mountain Application if it Lacks a Workable Plan for Retrieval of Spent Fuel as Required by Law (pdf-112K) — State of Nevada

April 16, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Nevada calls plan deficient — DOE's future installation of drip shields challenged — Department of Energy plan to install thousands of titanium alloy drip shields in the distant future to keep water from corroding nuclear waste canisters inside Yucca Mountain has failed to convince Nevada officials that a repository, if built there, would be safe — LRJ.com

April 16, 2008 — Commission [Lyon County] to hear report on Yucca Mountain project transportation — RGJ.com

April 15, 2008 — Not in My Back Yucca — What are our alternatives for storing radioactive waste? — Slate

April 10, 2008 — Domenici pans Yucca-only approach —New Mexico senator touts recycling — WASHINGTON -- Political support for a Yucca Mountain repository eroded further on Wednesday when a leading Senate advocate of nuclear power said it has become "foolhardy" to plan to store used nuclear fuel at the Nevada site — Stephens Washington Bureau

April 04, 2008 — Law firm's Yucca pact with DOE criticized — Inspectors say agency ignored conflicts, documentation —WASHINGTON -- Federal inspectors on Thursday faulted the Department of Energy for picking a law firm with conflicts of interest to work on the Yucca Mountain Project without fully documenting why the firm was selected — Stephens Washington Bureau (Related Information)

April 03, 2008 — Nevada delegation assails law firm’s work on Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Sun

April 02, 2008 — State estimates record challenges to Yucca WASHINGTON -- Nevada could launch between 250-500 license challenges to Yucca Mountain, state officials said, making the proposed radioactive waste repository by far the most contentious issue ever weighed by nuclear safety regulators — Stephens Washington Bureau

May

May 23, 2008 — Yucca license process weighed — While critics are expected to raise hundreds of legal challenges to the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the Department of Energy bid to win a license to build it likely will hinge on only a couple of key issues, an industry official said Thursday Las Vegas Review Journal

May 21, 2008 — Yucca father changes his tune — Washington — The lawmaker perhaps most responsible for turning Yucca Mountain into the nation’s proposed nuclear waste dump said Tuesday the politically opposed project should never have been billed as a place to hold waste indefinitely . . . . Bob Loux, who leads the state’s efforts to fight Yucca Mountain, said the “mind-set of people like Johnston and the industry has all changed. They all realize now it was a huge mistake” to try to force the waste dump on Nevada. — Las Vegas Sun

May 21, 2008 — DOE picks 2 firms to design, build nuclear waste canisters — AP

May 20, 2008 — RADIATION RULES: EPA chief defends Yucca work — Agency's head says guidelines for health take time to be formulated — WASHINGTON -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday defended the agency's work on Yucca Mountain radiation health rules that remain uncompleted after close to three years of review — Stephens Washington Bureau

May 19, 2008 — Yucca-bound nuke waste should not affect Lyon [County, NV] — Nevada Appeal

May 16, 2008 — Six Years On, Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository Slowly Moves Forward Energy Department officials confirmed this week that they plan to submit an application in June to license the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump as the nation's first spent-nuclear fuel repository — PBS

May 14, 2008 — Yucca license application expected in early June — Las Vegas Sun

May 15, 2008 — Atomic testing burned its mark — Test Site employed thousands, put many more at risk — Las Vegas Sun

May 03, 2008 — State seeks more time for Yucca review — WASHINGTON -- Nevada officials have requested more time to prepare challenges to the U.S. Department of Energy's license application for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The 30-day period for filing license contentions should be extended to 180 days, attorneys argued in a motion filed this week with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission — Las Vegas Review Journal

May 03, 2008 — Feds find glitches in Yucca documentation: Quality assurance program continues to encounter snags — Stephens Washington Bureau

May 01, 2008 — Yucca corrosion data found to be suspicious — WASHINGTON -- Government scientists raised questions in recent weeks about Department of Energy experiments on how long it will take canisters containing highly radioactive nuclear waste to corrode after being placed within Yucca Mountain — Stephens Washington Bureau

June

June 30, 2008 — STB says no to Nevada, will continue to review the DOE's application to build Yucca Mountain line — Progressive Railroading.com (Read the Yucca Mountain Rail Alignment Fact Sheet - Surface Transportation Board)

June 28, 2008 — Senator offers alternative for Yucca project — WASHINGTON -- A new nuclear waste strategy that would partner the government with industry to develop privately owned storage sites and recycling factories was announced on Friday. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., unveiled a bill as an alternative to storing 77,000 tons of used nuclear fuel in a long-delayed Yucca Mountain repository. — Stephens Washington Bureau

June 24, 2008 — DOE contract for Yucca Mountain attracts attention — U.S. Justice Department takes notice . . . . Energy Department officials failed to check with the Justice Department before signing a four-year $47.7 million contract with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, a firm acknowledged to have conflicts on nuclear waste matters, a Justice official said — Stephens Washington Bureau

June 20, 2008 — Official confident Yucca plan to clear licensing challenges — Nevada leaders say application has holes . . . "The whole license application is whether the NRC can say whether there will be reasonable assurance the repository is safe. How can you have reasonable assurance when you don't know what the (radiation) doses are to the public." — Stephens Washington Bureau

June 18, 2008 — House panel approves full funding for Yucca — Stephens Washington Bureau

Jun 15, 2008 — Nuclear waste deal opposed— Nevadans won't hold nuclear dump against candidates — Despite the Energy Department's action this month to seek a license to build the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a Review-Journal poll has found that a majority of Nevada voters feel the same way they did four years ago: Continue to fight the project instead of making a deal in exchange for accepting it — RJ.com

June 13, 2008 — Nuclear energy is about to make a comeback across the country — AP

June 08, 2008 — [Editorial] Why the Yucca application should be rejected — Catherine Cortez Masto - Attorney General for the State of Nevada.

June 07, 2008 — Gibbons calls for summit to organize Yucca fight — CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons on Friday called for a meeting of Nevada's congressional delegation and state officials in the coming weeks to ensure coordination in the fight against the Yucca Mountain Project. "Now that the Department of Energy has submitted its application for Yucca Mountain to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it's essential that we are all on the same page in fighting this project," Gibbons said — Las Vegas Review Journal

June 07, 2008 — Firm stays on Yucca Mountain case: NRC rejects Nevada's demand — WASHINGTON -- The law firm hired by the Department of Energy to handle Yucca Mountain licensing will remain on the job despite the protests of the state of Nevada. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected the state's demand that Morgan Lewis & Bockius be disqualified from the nuclear waste repository case — Stephens Washington Bureau

June 06, 2008 — Nevada lawmakers claim politics fuels Yucca bid — WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy's bid to begin licensing for a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain reeks of politics and uncertainty and should be rejected out of hand, Nevada lawmakers urged in a letter Thursday to top nuclear safety regulators — Stephens Washington Bureau [Read the letter ]

June 06, 2008 — Yucca Mountain safety plan is 'doomed,' nuclear company says — In an earthquake, casks of radioactive waste could bounce and roll in a 'chaotic melee,' Holtec International says of the Energy Department proposal — LA Times

June 05, 2008 — Nevada files challenge to Yucca license — A day after the Energy Department submitted its 8,600-page application to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, the state on Wednesday filed 21 pages of "get lost," asking regulators to reject the plan. Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto filed the petition asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to send back to the DOE its application to construct and license the repository for high-level nuclear waste at the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas RJ.com    [More Coverage, Nevada Appeal]

June 04, 2008 — DOE's License Application for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain — DOE

June 04, 2008 — State of Nevada - Petition to the NRC to Reject DOE's Yucca Mountain License Application as Unauthorized and Substantially Incomplete (pdf-61K)

June 04, 2008 — Back and forth on Yucca dump — With the application filed, here’s a look at the likely arguments, responses — Las Vegas Sun

June 04, 2008 — Nevada files challenge against nuclear dump license — A Bush administration bid to win Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a national nuclear waste dump outside Las Vegas was challenged Wednesday by Nevada as too little and six years too late. . . . The state's 33-page petition was filed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, M.D., Cortez Masto [ Nevada Attorney General] said — Las Vegas Sun

Jun 04, 2008 — Commissioners [Clark County] plot repository opposition —It will take more than four years for the federal government to obtain a license to turn Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste storage site and more than 12 years before the project is finished, Clark County's nuclear waste expert told the Clark County Commission on Tuesday — RJ.com

More Coverage - NRC License Application
• Deseret News
• Las Vegas Review Journal
• Las Vegas Sun
• LA Times
• Key dates AP

June 04, 2008 — Government Moves on Yucca Nuclear Waste Site — NPR All Things Considered: The government's long-awaited application for a license to open a nuclear waste repository in Nevada arrived at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission early Tuesday morning. There was so much paperwork it arrived by truck — NPR

Jun 03, 2008 — Docketing' next for Nevada nuclear dump license — AP

June 03, 2008 — Nevada nuclear dump application readied Tuesday — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration is moving a step closer to building a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada by filing a formal application for a construction license — AP [Print Version]

June 01, 2008 — Yucca license application is next round in 20-year battle — Washington — On the brink of what should be a milestone for the Yucca Mountain project, prospects for the nuclear waste dump outside of Las Vegas have never been more in doubt — Las Vegas Sun

July

July 27, 2008 — There’s still no pot of gold at the end of the Yucca Mountain rainbow — By Guy W. Farmer - Letter to the Editor, Nevada Appeal

July 20, 2008 — Supplement to June 4, 2008 Petition asking the NRC to Reject DOE's Yucca Mountain License Application as Unauthorized and Substantially Incomplete (pdf-7.29M) State of Nevada

July 16, 2008 — Statement from the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality — NWTRB (Related Information)

July 16, 2008 — Yucca Mountain cost estimate tops $90 billion — WASHINGTON -- The projected costs to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, ship used radioactive fuel to Nevada from around the country and operate the site for 100 years have grown to more than $90 billion, an energy department official said Tuesday — Stephens Washington Bureau (Related Information)

July 16, 2008 — Berkley’s 9 minutes of defiance on Yucca — Las Vegas Sun (More Coverage)

July 16, 2008 — If Yucca opens, waste could travel via Utah —The Salt Lake Tribune

July 16, 2008 — State of Nevada Comments on DOE's Application to the Surface Transportation Board for a Certificate of Public Conveyance and Necessity for the Proposed Caliente Rail Spur to Yucca Mountain

July 15, 2008 — Counties Potentially Affected by Shipments to Yucca Mountain — Black Mountain Research

July 10, 2008 — County [Lincoln, NV] Sends Letter to Surface Transportation Board — The Lincoln County Recorder

July 09, 2008 — YUCCA BUDGET: Panel cuts more than 20 percent - Reduction would set back project, Sen. Reid says — WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel on Tuesday chopped more than 20 percent from the Department of Energy's 2009 budget for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The energy and water subcommittee's action signals months of uncertainty ahead as to whether DOE will have enough money to manage its newly submitted license application for the Nevada site if Congress carries out the cut — Stephens Washington Bureau

July 02, 2008 — Federal board rebuffs opposition to rail application — Agency seeks to build Yucca Mountain line — WASHINGTON -- The federal railroad board has said it will consider the Department of Energy's bid to build a nuclear waste rail line to Yucca Mountain, setting aside a Nevada protest that the application was incomplete — Stephens Washington Bureau

July 2, 2008 — Nuclear Agency Weighs Attack Threat at Plants New York Times

July 01, 2008 — Reid says McCain echoes Bush in talk of Yucca Mountain — RJ.com

July 01, 2008 — Sun Editorial — Glow train goes national Risks inherent in transporting nuclear waste are documented on The History Channel — Las Vegas Sun

August
August 31, 2008 — County’s double-checking feds’ work on Yucca — Las Vegas Sun

August 29, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: 4,000 seek rejection of license -- Petition opposing nuclear waste dump sent to regulatory agency — WASHINGTON -- A petition against the Yucca Mountain Project that has more than 4,000 signatures was sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday, according to Nevada lawmakers. The petition urges the nuclear safety agency to reject a Department of Energy application to build the nuclear waste complex 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas — By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

August 26, 2008 — Poll says Yucca not key to voters — RJ.com

August 22, 2008 — Nevada's objection to nuke dump application tossed — Regulators have rejected a petition by the state of Nevada against the federal government's license application for a nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas — AP (More Coverage LRJ.com )

August 14, 2008 — Nevada gets more time to file Yucca challenges — WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday granted Nevada 30 additional days to file license challenges to the Yucca Mountain repository, short of the extra time the state requested for its preparations. Attorneys for the state in April asked the nuclear safety commissioners to allow 180 days for participants in license hearings to file "contentions" that challenge aspects of the nuclear waste plan. NRC rules currently allow 30 days — Stephens Washington Bureau

August 09, 2008 — Churchill County joins others in nuclear repository investigations — The Churchill County Commissioners approved an interlocal agreement on Thursday among Churchill, Esmeralda, Nye and Mineral counties to investigate issues and activities connected to the proposed first high-level nuclear and radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain — Lahontan Valley News

August 08, 2008 — Utilities win rulings on nuclear waste storage PG&E Co. and other utilities won appeals court decisions that may result in greater compensation for the U.S. government's failure to take ownership of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. In three rulings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Thursday outlined a new standard for compensating utilities that were forced to store the waste because the government hasn't begun building a promised disposal facility at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas — — Desert News

August 06, 2008 — Projections for Yucca revised: Estimated cost of nuclear waste dump: $96.2 billion — WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy on Tuesday issued new cost estimates for a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository that would be bigger, would operate longer and would cost billions of dollars more than earlier planned. The department in a long-awaited report announced the price tag on the proposed Nevada waste site has grown to an estimated $96.2 billion. Counting inflation, costs increased by 67 percent over DOE's previous estimate, which was $57.5 billion in 2001 — RJ.com

   Read / Download the Report [66 Pages 800 KB]

September
September 30, 2008 — Yucca Mountain Standards — EPA has developed amendments to the final standards for the planned Yucca Mountain high-level waste disposal facility that are fully protective of human health. In developing these amendments, EPA considered substantive public comments received during the public comment period. The amendments to the final standards were signed by the Administrator on September 30, 2008 — EPA

September 29, 2008 — Head of Nevada Nuclear Projects office resigns — Las Vegas Sun (More Details)

September 25, 2008 — House restores Yucca Mountain funding in bill — WASHINGTON -- Faced with a White House veto threat, Congress this week is restoring a part of Yucca Mountain funding that had been cut from a major defense bill < — Stephens Washington Bureau

September 24, 2008 — Reid Testifies at Commerce Committee Hearing on Nuclear Waste, Yucca Mountain — Harry Reid

September 20, 2008 — Don’t declare Yucca Mountain dump plan dead yet, activist says — Las Vegas Sun

September 19, 2008 — NUCLEAR PROJECTS AGENCY: Yucca fight reaffirmed — WASHINGTON -- No matter what happens with the embattled director of Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency, the state will not give up the fight against Yucca Mountain, Nevada's senators vowed Thursday — Stephens Washington Bureau

September 14, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Raises could fell tenacious foe — Carson City — The man perhaps most responsible over the past 30 years for thwarting the federal government’s plan for a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain slides into the driver’s seat with a mischievous grin. . . . But now Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons — and others — say Loux must go. Loux admitted last week he had unilaterally and improperly boosted his own salary and those of his small staff of state workers — By Lisa Mascaro, David McGrath Schwartz and Cy Ryan - Las Vegas Sun

September 12, 2008 — Scientists question comparing nuclear waste storage costs — WASHINGTON -- Government analysts are undertaking a study to compare the costs of building a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain against the costs of leaving the waste at power plants, where it is now stored — Stephens Washington Bureau

September 12, 2008 — NUCLEAR WASTE: Anti-Yucca effort won't change — RJ.com

September 10, 2008 — Lead Yucca Mountain foe asked to resign — Las Vegas Sun

September 10, 2008 — Objections to defense bill result in threat of Bush veto — Plan to cut Yucca Mountain spending cited as one of many reasons — RJ.com

September 09, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Application in, but water still an issue — Washington — As it happens so often with Yucca Mountain, today’s story is about water.In the same breath that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission made its long-awaited announcement Monday that it would accept for review the application for the nuclear waste repository in the Nevada desert, it asked for more studies on water — Las Vegas Sun

September 08, 2008 — Yucca Mountain Project clears another big hurdle — WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to begin an in-depth review of the government plan to store high level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Capitol Hill officials said this morning — RJ.com

October

October 30, 2008 — Firm wins Yucca Mountain management contract —WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy switched operators of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project, awarding a $2.5 billion management contract today to a team headed by a unit of URS Corp., a major construction and engineering design firm —RJ.com

October 18, 2008 — License hearings set for Yucca nuclear waste site —WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission got the ball rolling Friday for license hearings on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository — Stephens Washington Bureau

October 14, 2008 — Public hearing on proposed Yucca rail line possible, chairman says — WASHINGTON — The federal railroad board's chairman says he is open to holding a public hearing on the Department of Energy application to build a rural Nevada rail line to ship nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain — RJ.com

October 13, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: PART 2 of 2: —Next president has power, though not absolute, over waste dump decision — Las Vegas Sun

October 12, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: PART I OF II: — Two decades later, how we got here A look back at the nuclear waste plan that unifies Nevada, divides Obama and McCain — Las Vegas Sun

October 11, 2008 — Nevada sues over radiation limit — Court asked to toss Yucca exposure standard RJ.com (Read AG's Press Release)   (Read the AG"s legal filing)

October 07, 2008 — Nevada Delegation's Letter: Public input on Yucca requested — Lawmakers: Rail line will affect many — Stephens Washington Bureau

October 07, 2008 — U.S. Congress - Letter from the Nevada Congressional Delegation to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board — DOE's Application to Construct and Operate a Rail Line to Yucca Mountain (pdf-220K)

October 05, 2008 — EDITORIAL: The 'science' of Yucca Mountain —'Guaranteeing' the safety of nuclear waste — Millions of years ago, Nevada and the rest of the Great Basin were covered by a shallow inland sea. The fossilized remains of creatures that lived in and along that sea can still be dug from exposed sand and gravel faces throughout this desert — RJ.com (Related Information)

October 02, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: EPA offers a bit of comfort on cancer risk — New standards for future generations allow for fewer probable cases — Las Vegas Sun

October 01, 2008 — NUCLEAR WASTE SITE: EPA sets Yucca radiation standards — RJ.com

November

November 28, 2008 — Loux says government has never offered Nevada money to accept nuke dump — Nuclear Projects director Bob Loux said this week there is no truth to recent claims Nevada can get millions from the federal government for dropping its fight to block the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump — Nevada Appeal

November 27, 2008 — State of Nevada Comments on DOE's Draft Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

November 21, 2008 — Demise of Yucca project predicted — Reid sees Obama blocking nuke waste dump — WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid have had several discussions about the Yucca Mountain Project since the election, with Reid saying this week the nuclear waste burial plan will "bleed real hard" before being halted — Stephens Washington Bureau (More Coverage)

November 21, 2008 — County Seeks to Become an Interested Governmental Participant on the Yucca Mountain License — Attorney Barry Newman, of Carter, Ledger and Milburn, a legal firm in Washington D.C., visited the Lincoln County Commission meeting November 17. The firm has been retained for some time to represent Lincoln County interests in the licensing proceedings regarding the proposed Department of Energy Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository The Lincoln County Recorder

November 14, 2008 — UNR to study recycling spent nuclear fuel — Recycling spent nuclear fuel is the focus of a University of Nevada, Reno research project aimed at creating an alternative to storing it for millions of years in a facility such as Yucca Mountain — RGJ.com

November 12, 2008 — Yucca Mountain Rail Transportation Environmental Issues — Presentation of Robert Halstead to the Association of Transportation Law Professionals' Forum V, Washington, DC — State of Nevada

November 12, 2008 — Nuke folks worry — The nuclear energy industry is fretting over the next president’s stand on the proposed federal dump for high level nuclear wastes at Yucca Mountain — Reno News and Review

November 10, 2008 — EDITORIAL New president should call halt to Yucca Mountain plan — Reno Gazette Journal

November 10, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Waste site critics see opening: Obama's victory might keep repository out of state — WASHINGTON -- It probably won't happen overnight, but opponents of the Yucca Mountain repository express confidence that President-elect Barack Obama will make good on a campaign promise to steer nuclear waste away from Nevada — By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

November 06, 2008 — DOE Wants Yucca Mountain Expanded — The Energy Department will tell Congress in the coming weeks it should begin looking for a second permanent site to bury nuclear waste, or approve a large expansion of the proposed waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. — AP

• More Coverage — Report: Expand Nevada nuclear dump or OK second site — AP
• More Coverage — U.S. Decides One Nuclear Dump Is Enough — NYT.com

November 05, 2008 — State of Nevada - Yucca Mountain Transportation Impacts and Regulatory Challenges - Presentation by Robert Halstead at Hazmat Expo 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 5, 2008) - Robert J. Halstead (pdf-1.66M)

November 03, 2008 — Democratic Victories Could Bring US Energy Policy Shift . . . .Obama's campaign says the U.S. is unlikely to meet targets for greenhouse-gas emissions reductions without nuclear power. But he opposes the storage of nuclear waste at the proposed facility at Yucca Mountain. His plan involves more study of long- term disposal issues and envisions that for now, waste would continue to be stored at current locations around the country — CNN Money

November 01, 2008 — Yucca manager changed —URS Corp. division gets $2.5 billion job — Stephens Washington Bureau

December

December 31, 2008 — Breslow named to head Nuclear Projects Agency — Nevada Appeal   (More Coverage - RGJ.com)

December 28, 2008 — COMMENTARY: New Energy Secretary will kill Yucca dump — By Guy W. Farmer

December 27, 2008 — Train derailment to disrupt rail service — freight train derailed about 260 miles east of Reno on Saturday, triggering a bridge collapse and major disruptions in rail service on one of the country’s main east-west lines, Union Pacific officials said — AP      

December 25, 2008 — COME TO THE TABLE: GOP says Yucca site a solution — Negotiating for benefits might be best, party argues — LRJ.com

December 24, 2008 — California says Yucca poses threat to people, resources — WASHINGTON -- California is urging federal regulators to turn down the Energy Department's bid to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, charging analysts did not fully study how the plan would affect Death Valley groundwater and the state's transportation networks — Stephens Washington Bureau

December 23, 2008 — Petitions challenge Yucca license bid — Clark County, tribal group cite safety concerns — Following Nevada's lead, Clark County and a nonprofit Timbisha Shoshone corporation filed petitions Monday challenging the Department of Energy's license application for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. "In a nutshell, we're challenging DOE's capacity to construct and operate a safe repository," said Irene Navis, Clark County's nuclear waste planning manager — RJ.com

December 19, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Science of Sci-Fi in storage plan? — State is contesting federal safeguards it calls pipe dreams — Here is the federal government’s plan to keep Las Vegas safe from the radioactive waste it wants to store at Yucca Mountain: High-tech metal containers for the waste; Multibillion-dollar titanium shields to protect the containers from drips of corrosive water; Robots to install the shields 100 years from now — Too bad none of those things exist, opponents say — Las Vegas Sun

December 19, 2008 — State of Nevada's Petition to Intervene in the NRC's Licensing Proceeding for Yucca Mountain (pdf - 13.5MB)

December 17, 2008 — Waste dump [Yucca] opponents sense victory — Despite the eleventh hour push by the Bush administration to advance efforts to make Yucca Mountain the dump for all of the nation’s highly radioactive nuclear waste, that plan is on its last legs, Nevada’s anti-Yucca forces said this week — Las Vegas Sun

December 16, 2008 — Field narrows to three for nuclear agency chief — RJ.com

December 16, 2008 — Obama’s pick for energy secretary no friend of Yucca Mountain — AP (Related Story)

December 15, 2008 — Reprocessing site still would be bad — RGJ.com

December 12, 2008 — Obama urged to keep Yucca on track — WASHINGTON -- Executives for the nuclear industry's lobbying arm said Thursday they have told aides to President-elect Barack Obama that the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository should remain in the nation's energy playbook, and there is no need to rush decisions about the project — Stephens Washington Bureau

December 10, 2008 — Five vying to replace Loux at nuclear agency — RJ.com

December 10, 2008 — DOE: Yucca could be bigger still — Expansion of proposed nuke waste site urged — WASHINGTON -- Yucca Mountain could hold at least three times more nuclear waste than currently allowed, the Department of Energy said Tuesday in a report that recommends Congress expand the storage site it plans to build in Nevada — Stephens Washington Bureau

December 05, 2008 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Rail proposal opposed, Board asked to delay review of DOE plan for nuclear waste corridor — With few exceptions, most speakers Thursday told the Surface Transportation Board to suspend its review of federal plans to build a rail line from Caliente for hauling nuclear waste to a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain — RJ.com

December 05, 2008 — Official: Don't write program's obituary Sproat promotes viability of waste project WASHINGTON -- Despite pronouncements that the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site is as good as dead when Barack Obama becomes president, the outgoing project director cautioned Thursday against throwing dirt on the grave just yet — Stephens Washington Bureau

December 04, 2008 — State of Nevada - State of Nevada Comments at the U.S. Surface Transportation Board's Public Hearing on DOE's Application to Construct and Operate a Rail Line From Caliente, Nevada to Yucca Mountain (December 4, 2008)

December 04, 2008 — Rail line hangs on hearing — The Energy Department shouldn’t be allowed to build rail lines in Nevada to carry high-level radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain until it first examines the repercussions of shipping the waste through other states, Nevada officials will argue today — Las Vegas Sun

December 04, 2008 — Reid: Won’t allow DOE chief who supports Yucca — AP

December 02, 2008 — Public Hearing on Yucca Mountain Rail Line A public hearing is being held Thursday [Dec 4^th] on the Department of Energy's application to build the Caliente rail line to Yucca Mountain — lasvegasnOw.com