WASHINGTON -- Nevada's congressional delegation responded yesterday to the Department of Energy's submission of a license application to begin construction of the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

The application submission was marked in Las Vegas by a press conference at the Yucca Mountain Project Office.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has 90 days to review it preliminarily to determine if it is complete. If accepted, the NRC will take at least three years to determine whether to grant the license to begin building the dump.

Members of the Nevada congressional delegation wasted no time in taking another opportunity to blast the whole project.

"While the DOE is trying to spin this as though it has submitted the application early, the truth is that it was supposed to be filed years ago. Yet, even with the extra time, this application is shoddy at best," Nevada Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. "The application, which includes designs that are only 35 percent complete, lacks critical information that cannot simply be overlooked.

"For example, just how would the Energy Department respond in the event of an emergency? We can't answer that question because the department doesn't even know ... I will continue working with the rest of Nevada's congressional delegation to kill the dump, which continues to lose any political support it once had in Congress."

Reid's comments were echoed by those of his colleague, Republican Nevada Sen. John Ensign.

"The Department of Energy is once again desperately trying to resuscitate Yucca Mountain," said Ensign. "Over the years, previous Yucca Mountain supporters have become more and more skeptical of the flawed project, and this latest attempt by the DOE is merely a last-ditch effort to breathe life into bad policy that is wrong for America.

"Yucca Mountain is dead, and it is time to move forward in a new direction with on-site waste storage."

Congressman Shelley Berkley said, "Nothing about this application changes the fact that Yucca Mountain is decades behind schedule or that its price tag is $80 billion and climbing. Nor does it erase the history of earthquakes and volcanoes at the site or the terrorist threat posed by 'rolling dirty bombs' barreling down America's roads and railways."

Berkley also tied both President Bush and GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain to the project.

"Nevadans know a bad bet when we see one, and that is why we vehemently oppose the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan and its decades of toxic radioactive waste shipments ... That's why this submission should be seen for exactly what it is -- an $80 billion goodbye present to the nuclear industry from President Bush at the expense of the health and safety of families in Nevada and nationwide."

"Nevadans and the American public clearly understand that Yucca Mountain is both a reckless waste of taxpayer dollars and a fatally flawed project," Congressman Jon Porter said. "The Nevada delegation has successfully swayed public conscious away from the antiquated repository model and towards more responsible solutions like nuclear recycling. The Department of Energy's filing of the license application today shows total disregard for the heath and safety of Nevadans. Let's stop throwing good money after bad and give the Nuclear Waste Fund ratepayers a better solution and the Americans more of a say in domestic nuclear policy."

"The Yucca Mountain project has been plagued by poor management and faulty science from day one," chimed in Congressman Dean Heller. "Licensing this project would be a threat to the health and safety of every community nuclear waste would be shipped through. I will continue to fight alongside the Nevada delegation to stop nuclear waste from being stored at Yucca Mountain."