WASHINGTON —  Federal nuclear regulators have agreed to consider the government's application for a license to build a radioactive waste dump in Nevada.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined Monday that the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain license application was sufficiently complete to be "docketed" for formal review.

The NRC is expected to take four years to decide whether to grant the construction license for the dump.

The decision to docket the license application — despite objections from the state of Nevada — is a step forward for the Energy Department. It submitted the 8,600-page application in June after years of delay.