New barriers studied at Yucca Mountain

Dennis Richardson, a scientist for a Yucca Mountain project contractor, said scientists are trying to come up with a design that "levels the playing field, where each barrier is backed up by another."

Richardson said scientists intend to submit the design to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must give final approve to the site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Rick Nielsen, executive director of the environmental group Citizen Alert, said the multibarrier idea shows the Energy Department is "trying to engineer their way around a faulty site, because it's clear the site alone cannot provide the barriers."

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