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Agency considering Three Mile Island nuclear debris in Idaho

Federal authorities want to store the partially melted core from one of the United States' worst nuclear power accidents for another 20 years in Idaho

FILE - This May 11, 2015 file photo shows nuclear waste stored in underground containers at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Federal authorities want to store the partially melted core from one of the United States' worst nuclear power accidents for another 20 years in Idaho. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday, Sept. 16, 2019 it's considering a request from the U.S. Department of Energy to renew a license to store the radioactive debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The core of a reactor south of Harrisburg, Pa., partially melted in 1979. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler, File)
FILE - This May 11, 2015 file photo shows nuclear waste stored in underground containers at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Federal authorities want to store the partially melted core from one of the United States' worst nuclear power accidents for another 20 years in Idaho. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday, Sept. 16, 2019 it's considering a request from the U.S. Department of Energy to renew a license to store the radioactive debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The core of a reactor south of Harrisburg, Pa., partially melted in 1979. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler, File)Read moreKeith Ridler / AP
    by Keith Ridler, AP, The Associated Press
    Published 

BOISE, Idaho — Federal authorities want to store the partially melted core from one of the United States’ worst nuclear power accidents for another 20 years in Idaho.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday it's considering a request from the U.S. Department of Energy to renew a license to store the radioactive debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

The core of a reactor south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, partially melted in 1979.

The commission says continuing to store the debris at the Energy Department's 890-square-mile (2,305-square-kilometer) site in eastern Idaho that includes the Idaho National Laboratory will have no significant impact.

The license would be good through 2039, four years past an agreement the Energy Department has with Idaho to remove the high-level radioactive waste.