The US Department of Energy has awarded a contract to USA Repository Services LLC, a unit of URS Corp. that includes Areva and the Shaw Group, to manage the used nuclear fuel repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The USA Repository Services partnership will have several responsibilities, including completing the detailed design of the repository and addressing questions on the license application submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this year. The contract also stipulates that USA Repository Services will operate the existing Yucca Mountain facilities before construction authorization and support management of construction and operation activities. The 5 year contract, which has an optional 5 year renewal, is valued at USD 2.5 billion.