WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy has readjusted its Yucca Mountain work plans following a deep budget cut and will be ready after all to apply for a license in June to build a nuclear waste repository, the program director said Thursday.

Managers postponed work on a Nevada rail line and other segments of the Yucca program and redirected money and personnel to reach the most pressing goal of meeting a June 30 license deadline, according to Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.

Applying for a construction license has been a long sought but out-of-reach milestone for the Department of Energy at Yucca Mountain.

The department has encountered legal and budget problems and a number of internal missteps in recent years.

Speaking at a conference organized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sproat expressed confidence the application will pass initial muster to be docketed by the NRC for more thorough safety reviews and hearings.

Amid cutbacks that will reduce the workforce from 2,600 to about 1,500-1,700, DOE has singled out key scientists and engineers within DOE, the U.S. Geological Survey, the national laboratories and contract firm Bechtel SAIC, which will be needed to defend the license.

"We have identified who those people are to make sure they know their jobs are not in jeopardy," Sproat said. "I believe, and a number of people believe, that a very high quality license application is just about being completed. We have an army of national lab Ph.D.'s and engineers on our defense team. I believe we are set up for success."

Sproat's upbeat assessment came minutes after a lawyer who represents Nevada in its ongoing battle with Yucca Mountain declared the program is on a "death watch" and is destined for failure.

Martin Malsch, of the firm Egan, Fitzpatrick & Malsch, said DOE will continue to face increasingly severe budget problems.

He contended DOE's application will be rushed and incomplete and predicted a "huge dispute" over whether it should be accepted for review by regulators.

Beyond that, Nevada is poised to challenge DOE's qualifications and other key aspects of the project, he said. On top of that, both Democratic presidential candidates have pledged to stop the program if elected.

"Yucca Mountain's breaths are short and its heartbeat is faint," Malsch said. "I really don't think it has very long to continue."

In response, Sproat said: "The death watch is going to continue for a very long time because I see this program being very alive and well."

The Energy Department was sent back to the drawing boards late last year when Congress cut the 2008 Yucca Mountain budget by $108 million, a 22 percent reduction.

Sproat initially expressed doubt DOE would meet its deadline. But he said managers deferred work on all but the most pressing tasks.

For instance, work on a proposed Nevada rail line to the repository site has been pushed back several years.

To save more money, technical specialists were rotated in for short periods to perform specific tasks and then let go, Sproat said.

Questions remain about the long term for the repository, which would need billions of dollars to be built. Sproat confirmed the Bush administration is considering a proposal to reorganize the Yucca project and other nuclear waste programs into a government-chartered corporation similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority or the Bonneville Power Administration.

Promoters contend such an organization would have the advantages of a private business to hire and fire managers, set salaries to attract talent and promote accountability.

Among the boosters, Sproat said it would stop a revolving door that has seen numerous top managers attempting to run the Yucca program for short terms.

But such a big alteration would require a number of fundamental changes and approval by Congress, which might not be willing to give up control.

The Energy Daily in a Feb. 26 story quoted sources saying the DOE proposal has been at the White House for consideration since at least December. Sproat could not confirm that, saying he understood the concept still was being mulled within the Energy Department.

"I personally don't expect we are going to make anything significant happen on this over the next three to six months," he said.