Bush preparing for nuclear waste dump

Yummy, nuclear waste:

The Bush administration has moved a step closer to building a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Energy Department today applied for a construction license to build a facility 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has three years to review the application, which is 17 volumes thick.

The president gave his OK for the Yucca waste repository six years ago. It's opposed by most members of the Nevada congressional delegation over safety issues. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has labeled the project a "dying beast," and has blocked funding.

If approved, the Yucca project would be designed to hold 77,000 tons of waste, most of it spent reactor fuel from nuclear power plants. Six billion dollars has already been spent in research and engineering at the site. Crews have already dug a tunnel deep into the volcanic rock, which will be used to store canisters of reactor fuel.