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

The Department of Energy filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe is objecting to the application. Chairman Joe Kennedy said the government hasn't given the tribe enough time to assure that its rights are being protected.

The Timbisha Shoshone are the closest to the site. But more than a dozen other tribes are also affected by the repository, which is located on traditional Western Shoshone land.

The facility will store up to 77,000 tons of nuclear waste from sites across the nation. One is located near the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota, which has supported the need for a national repository.

Get the Story:
DOE files to build Yucca (The Las Vegas Review Journal 6/3)