MAP: Tribes located near Yucca Mountain site. PDF: Sites where waste is currently stored.

The Prairie Island Indian Community of Minnesota is hoping the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will approve a license for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

The reservation is only 600 yards from a nuclear plant. The waste waste would be sent to Nevada if the Yucca Mountain facility wins the license.

The facility is already far behind schedule. The tribe hopes it opens by 2012 -- when the Prairie Island nuclear plant is due for its NRC relicense -- but the Department of Energy anticipates a 2020 opening.

The Yucca Mountain site is on traditional Western Shoshone land as identified in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley.

Get the Story:
City and tribal leaders hail Yucca Mountain progress (The Republican Eagle 6/5)
pwpwd

Related Stories:
DOE files license to build Yucca Mountain repository (6/4)