US, New Mexico ink settlements over nuclear radiation leak

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) – New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Energy have inked $74 million in settlements over dozens of permit violations stemming from a radiation leak that forced the closure of the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository.
The settlements are the largest ever negotiated between a state and the Energy Department and come after months of negotiations.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has been closed since February 2014, when a container of waste burst and relea