"PFS could not have chosen a worse location, as it is directly underneath the well-established flight-path for all types of military aircraft utilizing the range, including F-16s and F-22s." they wrote. "One would have to be incredibly stupid to knowingly build an above-ground, high-level nuclear waste storage facility underneath the airspace corridor of a heavily used military training range which supports 2,000 sorties per year involving live munitions."

PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin said she was not aware of any replies from the Energy Department or members of Congress on Parkyn's proposal. She said they continue to work on marketing and meeting with people in the industry to move the project ahead.

Meanwhile, the Energy Department sent a major Yucca Mountain bill to Congress Wednesday after months of cautious speculation and rumor on what would actually be in the bill from those that follow the issue.

The bill, which still needs to be introduced officially by a member of Congress, would withdraw permanently from public use the land at and surrounding the Yucca Mountain repository site in Nevada, and would change how Congress allocates money to the project.

The proposed bill would also eliminate the current 70,000 metric ton limit on Yucca, which was only a legal limit, because the site can technically hold more.

The summary from the Energy Department does not include any specific language on federal interim storage, but Bob Loux, Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency director, the state's top Yucca critic, said as he reads certain parts of it, if the bill is approved, waste could begin moving the next day.

While no rail line currently exists to the Yucca project, proposed rail routes to get nuclear waste from across the country to Nevada could go through Salt Lake City, according to a 2002 analysis by the Energy Department.

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com