U.S. NRC to review Nevada nuclear waste project

LOS ANGELES, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday said it has "docketed" the U.S. Energy Department's license application for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

This means the NRC staff can begin its technical review of the long-delayed Yucca Mountain project. Putting the application on docket is not making a determination whether Yucca Mountain should be built, the NRC said in a press release.

"Docketing the application triggers a three-year deadline, with a possible one-year extension, set by Congress for the NRC to decide whether to grant a construction authorization," the NRC said.

The Department of Energy filed an application with the NRC for Yucca Mountain on June 3.

The Yucca Mountain waste project is to cost about $96 billion in 2007 dollars over its 150-year life, up 67 percent from a 2001 estimate, the U.S. Energy Department said in August.

Yucca Mountain could open by 2020 at the earliest, the energy department said three months ago. When the project was first taken on by federal officials in 1983, it was to have opened in 1998.

Yucca Mountain is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Las Vegas.

Nuclear waste is stored at 121 sites in 39 states around the country, often at nuclear power plants where the waste is generated.

The NRC review will involve more than 100 NRC staffers and contractors. To meet the three-year deadline, the NRC has said, Congress will to have to provide an extra $40 million in the 2009 budget year to cover the cost of reviewing the license request. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by David Gregorio)