Draft report uges DOE to consider second waste repository

The permanent nuclear waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada, cannot hold the projected spent fuel that will be generated by future nuclear plants and defense facilities so the Energy Department should consider a second repository now, according to an annotated outline of a draft report to Congress from the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management discussed at a public meeting Wednesday. The report, required under Section 803 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, is supposed to determine the adequacy of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste management plans for future waste generation. The report is scheduled for completion Oct. 24.