New Mexico cancels permit to expand leaky nuclear waste site

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New Mexico cancels permit to expand leaky nuclear waste site

New Mexico on Friday withdrew a temporary permit allowing two new disposal vaults at a U.S. government nuclear waste dump grappling with a release of radiation in February, state regulators said. Seventeen workers at the Carlsbad-area "waste isolation pilot project" (WIPP) were exposed to radiation after an accidental leak last month from the site which stores waste from U.S. nuclear labs and weapons production facilities. State regulators were withdrawing the draft expansion permit to identify safety issues that may need to be addressed in the aftermath of that accident, New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn told a news conference on Friday afternoon. "We need to proceed with caution (and) assess any additional risks posed to either workers or the public," Flynn said.

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