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Report: Feds To Exceed Costs For Cleaning Up Los Alamos Nuclear Waste

A government watchdog says work to clean up radioactive waste at one of the federal government's premier nuclear laboratories is costing more than expected.

The Government Accountability Office says by the end of the last fiscal year, the National Nuclear Security Administration spent about $931 million to remove contaminated equipment and soil from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

That's $202 million more than the agency's 2006 estimate.

The GAO says in a report released Monday that the nuclear agency is also on track to outspend the latest cost predictions and needs to improve its estimates to better reflect current conditions.

Federal officials acknowledged the uncertainty though since a radiation leak last year forced the indefinite closure of the government's only underground nuclear waste repository in southeastern New Mexico.

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