Nevada, feds to study nuke-waste burial in state

Nevada and the federal government are agreeing to have a panel keep studying whether the U.S. will bury radioactive material from Tennessee at a former nuclear weapons proving ground north of Las Vegas.

Gov. Brian Sandoval and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced Tuesday that more than a year of negotiations have yielded a signed agreement for what they're calling senior-level talks.

Officials say there is no deal yet.

The state has balked at plans to bury low-level waste ranging from contaminated worker uniforms to machine parts from a World War II-era plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the Nevada National Security Site about 65 miles from Las Vegas.

Security Site spokesman Darwin Morgan says talks are continuing, and the Energy Department is optimistic shipments could begin in early 2015.