SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
FILE - This file aerial photo, date not known, shows Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. The U.S. government's efforts to clean up decades worth of Cold War-era waste from nuclear research and bomb making at federal sites around the country has chugged along, often at a pace that watchdogs and other critics say threatens public health and the environment. Now, fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic is resulting in more challenges as the nation's only underground repository for nuclear waste, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, finished ramping down operations Wednesday, April 1, 2020, to keep workers safe. (The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File)
Cleanup of US nuclear waste takes back seat as virus spreads

By Susan Montoya Bryan Apr. 03, 2020 01:02 AM EDT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. government’s efforts to clean up Cold War-era