The project is also losing some of its most persistent supporters as Republicans relinquish control of Congress. Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has been a vocal advocate for years; he'll be replaced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who supports Yucca Mountain but is viewed by Nevada officials as more open to their viewpoints.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who will chair the Environment and Public Works Committee with authority over some aspects of the project, is a vocal Yucca Mountain opponent. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., worked unsuccessfully to corral opposition to the project in a crucial House vote four years ago, when she was minority whip.

Administration and industry officials insist the changing of the guard on Capitol Hill won't be the death knell for the project. About 1,500 people in Nevada are now employed there.

Yucca Mountain also has lured research grants to the University of Nevada, and even Reid aides say some spending should be maintained.

"I don't think the program's gone off the edge by any means," said David Blee, executive director the U.S. Transport Council, an industry group that works on nuclear waste transportation. "It'll be more complicated and take a more creative approach, and more of an approach outside the (Washington) beltway."

Supporters say they will now focus on submitting a required license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Energy Department wants to do that in 2008 and it's not dependent on congressional action, though severe budget cuts would be an impediment.

Reid says putting the highly radioactive wastes in dry storage casks at power plants will keep it safe for 100 years or more. To industry officials and the Energy Department, that's no answer.

"Leaving everything where it is, is not a solution to the problem," said Edward F. "Ward" Sproat, director of the department's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.

Failure to pursue the Yucca project, Sproat said, "is pushing the solution off to future generations, which is pretty much what's been happening with this program up until now."

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On the net:

State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects: www.state.nv.us/nucwaste

Energy Department Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management: www.ocrwm.doe.gov

Sen. Harry Reid: reid.senate.gov