Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

State board approves $5 million to fight Yucca Mountain

CARSON CITY — The state Board of Examiners today approved a $5 million extension on a contract for a Washington, D.C., law firm to lead the fight against storing high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

The firm, Egan Fitzpatrick Malsch & Lawrence, has been under contract since 2001 and has received $36 million so far for its work.

On its website, the Egan law firm says it has won many victories in the field of nuclear energy.

Marta Adams, senior deputy attorney general, told the board that if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants a license to store waste at Yucca Mountain, it would cost $100 billion to complete the site and transportation system.

The Yucca Mountain facility is boarded up and more tunnel work would be needed to bury waste at the site.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must continue with the licensing process. The state has until Sept. 27 to ask the court to reconsider its decision.

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