Court gives DOE green light to continue Yucca shutdown

[bananas]

http://www.lvrj.com/news/court-gives-doe-green-light-to-continue-yucca-shutdown-92827489.html

May. 04, 2010
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Court gives DOE green light to continue Yucca shutdown

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy has been given the green light to move full speed ahead with its shutdown plans for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste program.

A federal appeals court late Monday dismissed a request to freeze termination activities until later this year, after judges have weighed lawsuits challenging the shutdown.

The order clears the way for the DOE to resume dismantling the Nevada waste repository program that the Obama administration wants to shelve. Remaining federal employees were given pre-layoff notices earlier this year, and the DOE was scheduled to issue a termination letter to the project's management contractor.

"We welcome the court's decision," DOE spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller said. "It means the court agreed that the department can proceed with winding down the Yucca project responsibly while the litigation proceeds so as not to needlessly waste taxpayer money."

<snip>

:applause: