New Mexico Environment Department

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FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2016, file photo, provided by the New Mexico Environment Department, a team of state regulators tour the federal government's only underground nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad, N.M., as part of an inspection necessary before the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant can resume operations. State regulators have approved restarting normal operations at the nuclear waste repository, according to two letters obtained Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/New Mexico Environment Department, File)