WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration set out in a plan unveiled Tuesday to clear away potential obstacles in Nevada while speeding licensing and other groundwork for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

A bill being sent to Congress today seeks to strengthen the Department of Energy's authority over aspects of repository planning while expediting hearings the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would conduct to allow nuclear waste to be sent to the site, DOE officials said.

It would bolster DOE claims for precious water to operate a desert repository over objections written into Nevada law, according to officials.

It also seeks a head start to build a railroad across Nevada to the repository and to prepare other, non-nuclear features at the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, according to DOE officials and others who reviewed the measure.

A handful of other provisions -- some new and some old -- are contained in a "fix Yucca" bill that supporters said was part of an overhaul to get the repository back on track after years of setbacks and delays.

"Our proposal seeks to provide stability, clarity and predictability in moving the Yucca Mountain Project forward as quickly as possible," said Clay Sell, Energy Department deputy secretary. "It is good for national security, it is good for the environment, it is good for the economy, and we think it is very good for America."

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is planning his first trip to Nevada in the next few weeks to visit Yucca Mountain and to meet with repository workers, according to DOE spokesman Craig Stevens.

Critics had been bracing for the bill. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said it contained little that was original and that it would be "dead when it gets here" to Congress.

"This bill will go nowhere," added Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., contending the Yucca project will be unable to shake questions about health, safety and the quality of its science work.

The bill's prospects in Congress this year are unclear. Senate Energy Committee chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has said time is running short to tackle such a comprehensive measure although he promised to introduce the Bush administration bill to get the ball rolling.

"We believe it is very important to get Yucca Mountain open so we can start moving waste from communities around the country, and it is our view that is a widely held position," Sell said. "We can make the case to get the legislation passed."

The measure contains most of what the nuclear power industry and other repository proponents had sought. But it does not contain two key elements that could have moved the project faster, according to DOE officials and others.

It does not address radiation health standards that are being rewritten at the Environmental Protection Agency.

It also does not authorize the movement of nuclear waste away from power plants and into temporary storage while work continues at Yucca Mountain.

Bob Loux, Nevada nuclear waste director, said the DOE bill if passed would "begin to move things along a little bit" for the project.

He added it also might make it more difficult for the state to wield lawsuits as a weapon against the project in the areas of water rights, hazardous waste regulation and land management.

"It doesn't eliminate all the possibilities of stopping the project but it would close a few loopholes," said Loux, who coordinates Nevada's official opposition to the Yucca Mountain Project.

Among other provisions, the "fix Yucca" bill would:

• Authorize infrastructure activities at the site before DOE obtains a repository building license, such as construction of a Nevada rail line.

• Declare the use of water for the repository to be "beneficial to interstate commerce" and "not detrimental to the public interest," contrary to a state law that Nevada officials have cited to deny permits.

"This provision would result in non-discriminatory treatment of the department," according to an analysis of a bill draft.

• Exempt nuclear waste containers and other packing material from regulation under federal hazardous waste law. DOE maintained the change would simplify regulations "without compromising environmental protection or safety," according to a bill summary.

• Repeal the 70,000 metric ton limit on Yucca Mountain capacity set by law.

With more than 60,000 tons of commercial and government nuclear waste already in storage and piling up at a rate of 2,000 tons a year, the material would fill the repository almost as soon as it is built.

The change would allow planners to contemplate storing up to 120,000 metric tons, which has been identified as the mountain's physical limit.

• Change accounting practices to enable Congress to allocate as much as $750 million to $800 million to the project each year without running afoul of congressional budget restrictions. The Bush administration proposed similar reclassification bills in earlier sessions of Congress but it failed to gain support.

• Formally designate 147,000 acres of land surrounding Yucca Mountain to be in the Energy Department's control. The land variously is managed by BLM, the Air Force and the Nevada Test Site.

• Require the NRC to deem that there will be enough nuclear waste storage available to accommodate the construction of new power plants or license renewals for existing plants.

The nuclear industry lobbied for the change in the NRC's "waste confidence rule" so further delays would not snag efforts to build new plants.