US NRC approves Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday signed off on a plan to build an underground dump in Nevada's Yucca Mountain to hold radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power plants.
Yet another step in a long approval process, NRC approved a site suitability study submitted by the Department of Energy. The Bush administration must still submit that plan for congressional approval.
The Energy Department in August gave a favorable safety assessment to the proposed project, which would face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. It is heavily opposed by Democrat Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the new Senate assistant majority leader.
The site in the Nevada desert would store thousands of tons of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants for an estimated 10,000 years.
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Court quashes government cancellation of wind farm near Cornwall
CORNWALL - Construction of a wind farm in eastern Ontario will move ahead after a court quashed a provincial government decision to cancel the project.
In a ruling released Wednesday, a panel of Ontario Superior Court judges said the province's decision to scrap the Nation Rise Wind Farm in December 2019 did not meet the proper requirements.
At the time, Environment Minister Jeff Yurek revoked the approvals of the project near Cornwall, Ont., citing the risk to three bat species.
That decision came despite a ruling from the province's Environmental Review Tribunal that determined the risk the project posed to the bat population…