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NRC adopts 1 million year rule for Yucca Mountain |

NRC adopts 1 million year rule for Yucca Mountain

LOS ANGELES, Feb 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a rule for allowable radiation levels at the proposed nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada for up to 1 million years, the NRC announced on Tuesday.

The NRC is now accepting the radiation standards from Yucca Mountain as determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The NRC kept the EPA’s rule of limiting the dose of radiation to 15 millirem for the first 10,000 years after disposal. Now, the NRC has adopted the EPA’s limit of 100 millirem from 10,001 years to 1 million years…………

Last year, the DOE estimated that the cost of Yucca Mountain would be more than $96 billion, up from a 2001 estimate of $57.5 billion.

The DOE last June filed an application with the NRC for Yucca Mountain’s operation.

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Handling nuclear waste is a key issue for those considering a possible renaissance for nuclear power in the upcoming decade.

No new nuclear power plants have been approved since the 1970s after an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

NRC adopts 1 million year rule for Yucca Mountain | Markets | US Markets | Reuters

February 19, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA