By Lisa Mascaro

Published Wednesday, May 14, 2008 | 2:32 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Energy department officials meeting today before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Las Vegas are expected to confirm they will submit the long-awaited application to license the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in early June – a few weeks earlier than expected.

Nevada officials who are fighting the project believe the application could come as soon as June 3. An Energy spokeswoman declined to pin down a date, saying it will come “possibly within the first week of June.”

While the submission may be coming a few weeks earlier than expected, the application is actually nearly four years overdue. The department botched its earlier attempt to make its case before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Critics say the Energy department is rushing to get this application in before President Bush leaves office. His administration has been supportive of the repository at Yucca Mountain, and some believe a new president, with a potentially less-friendly policy toward nuclear waste, could doom the project.

The commission is expected to decide within three months of receiving the application if it is adequate for review. Then the commission has up to four years to review the license before deciding whether it is accepted.

Lots of earlier Yucca Mountain stories in the Sun can be found here.