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Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for a proposed 319-mile rail line from a Union Pacific Railroad mainline near Caliente, Nev., to a nuclear waste site in Yucca Mountain, Nev. The DOE is accepting public comments on the EA until Sept. 27.

The agency proposes to build the line to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste to a single repository. The nuclear waste currently is stored at 127 sites around the country. The DOE is seeking Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for the Yucca Mountain site.

The energy agency currently is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS), which will be issued next year. The EIS will evaluate the impact of construction, operation and maintenance of alternative rail alignments on the environment.