Feds Switches General Contractor at Yucca Mountain

October 30, 2008

LAS VEGAS (The Associated Press)

The federal government is switching the main contractor for the Yucca
Mountain nuclear waste project.

The Energy Department announced Thursday in Washington that a firm
headed by USA Repository Services will take over April 1 from Bechtel-SAIC
under a $2.5 billion management contract. DOE is giving no reason for the
change.

USA Repository Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of construction
and engineering design firm URS Corp. It's got two principal subcontractors
on the Yucca Mountain project: Louisiana-based Shaw Environmental and
Infrastructure Inc., and nuclear fuels management specialist AREVA Federal
Services.

The five-year contract has a five-year option that could go through
March 2019.

The Energy Department is seeking a Nuclear Regulatory Commission
license to entomb 77,000 tons of radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, 90
miles northwest of Las Vegas.