But Smith was unable to give any assurances that the waste from the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, which is stored in Wiscasset, would be given disposal priority or that the Yucca Mountain facility would actually be operating in six years. Maine Yankee Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Michael Meisner, said 2023 is a more likely date than 2010.

The project faces financial and legal hurdles. The state of Nevada is suing the DOE, claiming the site is ill-suited for such a use. And Maine Yankee is one of 65 utility companies nationwide suing the DOE for breach of contract over delays in accepting nuclear waste - the target date was January 1998.

Maine Yankee, which is being joined in the legal action by Yankee Rowe and Connecticut Yankee, is seeking $160 million in damages, according to spokesman Eric Howes. The so-called "Yankees suit," which will be heard by the U.S. Federal Court of Claims, is scheduled to begin next month.

"We're going to have to keep the nuclear waste here and that means having a great security concern for years to come," said Maria Holt, a nuclear activist from Bath, who was unable to attend Thursday's presentation.

Howes said Smith's visit was the first time a high-ranking DOE official has met with the 15-member panel, which was formed to monitor the decommissioning of Maine Yankee. The panel includes state legislators, private citizens, nuclear activists and environmentalists. The decommissioning will be completed next year.

Maine Yankee officials also gave a presentation Thursday on the dome, the last remnant of the state's only nuclear power plant. The 15-story dome, which contained the nuclear reactor, will be demolished around Labor Day, according to William Henries, Maine Yankee's director of engineering. Explosives will be used to blow out the dome's foundation, causing it to collapse.

"When it hits the ground it is going to go bang," Henries said.

Smith, the DOE official, said her agency plans to file a construction application for Yucca Mountain with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December. The NRC is expected to take about three years to review the application before authorizing the DOE to proceed with construction.

In the meantime, the DOE is developing plans for a 300-mile-long railroad in Nevada that will allow high level nuclear waste to be transported to the Yucca Mountain site, where the materials will be buried 1,000 feet under ground.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com