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Nuclear workers set contract deadline

    CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) - A union representing workers at the Department of Energy's underground nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad has given management two weeks to present another contract after workers rejected an earlier one.

    A spokeswoman for Washington TRU Solutions, which runs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or WIPP, says the company is negotiating and hopes for an agreement by the deadline.

    Spokeswoman Susan Scott says operations will continue as usual in the meantime.

    United Steel Workers International vice president Kip Phillips says the union extended the contract to midnight Oct. 14.

    He says workers rejected the initial offer because it could take away seniority rights and the right to choose vacation time.

    WIPP buries plutonium-contaminated waste from defense projects in ancient salt formations 2,150 feet underground.

    Information from: Carlsbad Current-Argus, http://www.currentargus.com/

    Copyright Associated Press, Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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