Texas regulators approve expansion of nuke site, reduction in financial assurances

Regulators have approved allowing depleted uranium to be buried at a West Texas nuclear waste dump site.

Company spokesman Chuck McDonald on Wednesday said the state's environmental commissioners approved the amendment to the license held by Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists. The site is in Andrews County.

The amendment also lets the company triple the facility's capacity of low-level radioactive waste it gets from dozens of states and reduces by $50 million the money it's required to have available to fund potential liability.

McDonald says the depleted uranium is classified as low-level and will come from federal energy facilities. Depleted uranium is a byproduct of enriched uranium that fuels nuclear power plants

Experts say the substance gets more radioactive as time passes and if disposed of improperly could pose health risks.