Washington (Platts)--23Dec2009/520 am EST/1020 GMT

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday denied an industry motion to suspend the US Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain repository licensing proceeding, saying the Nuclear Energy Institute failed to follow regulations and did not contact other parties in the proceeding to resolve the issue. NEI made the request in a November 13 letter to NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko.

NEI President and CEO Marvin Fertel asked that the agency suspend the adjudicatory proceedings and focus its resources instead on the ongoing staff technical review of DOE's application to build a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, roughly 95 miles outside Las Vegas.

In the letter, Fertel said such a move would allow the agency to learn as much as possible about radioactive waste disposal from the Yucca Mountain review process. He wrote the letter shortly after an October 23 internal DOE memo became public that indicated the department might terminate its repository licensing work in December.

DOE has been studying the site since the 1970s, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has been one of the project's biggest opponents, claiming the site cannot safely house highly radioactive waste for the required 1 million years.

The administration of President Barack Obama has backed Reid, saying Yucca Mountain is not an option.

--Elaine Hiruo, elaine_hiruo@platts.com