Re: Utah Escalates Nuclear Waste Fight

[PBarring@kdhe.state.ks.us]

One wonders if the governor would be raising such a fuss if the site were
on state land instead, or if the money to be made were to come to Utah
coffers instead of into native pockets.  I know I would bet real money that
Gov. Leavitt would not even bat an eye at a chemical plant or a brand new
shiny coal burner!  I wonder what the citizens of Utah think of their
elected official using state emergency funds to create a special interest
group, or that their taxes might go up to fuel a legal battle they have no
vested interest in.  If I was the governor I would be putting my money
towards backing Yucca Mountain, that would insure that the Skull Valley
project would not become permanent.

"Just my ramblings, not for official use"

Philip Barringer
KDHE
785-296-6342




Utah Escalates Nuclear Waste Fight

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Gov. Mike Leavitt created a special state
office Thursday to try to block a proposal to bring 44,000 tons of
high-level nuclear waste to Utah's desert.

``I will deploy every tool I can,'' Leavitt said. ``We don't produce this
waste. We shouldn't store it.''

Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight electric utilities, is
seeking federal approval to store spent nuclear fuel rods in
containers at the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, 45 miles
southwest of Salt Lake City.

Leavitt used an executive order and $50,000 in emergency funds to
create the Office of High Level Nuclear Waste Opposition. Leavitt
will ask the Legislature for $1 million per year to pay at least five
attorneys to combat the storage plan in court.

Sue Martin, a spokeswoman for Private Fuel Storage, said the
consortium is following an established process for licensing the
facility and that the state is a participant. She said the facility will
be operated safely.

``What the governor seems to want to do is short-circuit the
process and try to replace the established process with politics
and legal action,'' Martin said.

While details of the lease between the Skull Valley Goshutes and
PFS have not been released, the tribe is expected to make a hefty
profit.

Leavitt said he is considering new taxes, regulations and possibly
even criminal measures to regulate the transportation and storage
of nuclear waste under state law.

Opponents worry the Skull Valley site could become a permanent
storage site if a proposed site in Yucca Mountain, Nev., is blocked
by that state's political leaders.

Critics fear that storage casks could fail, water and air could be
contaminated, property values could drop and cruise missiles or
jets tested in the area could crash into the site.

However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared the site
safe and the casks sturdy. The military said the chances a jet
would crash into the casks are extremely low.

The NRC's final decision on the site isn't expected until sometime
in 2002. Three other federal agencies must then approve the
proposal.





************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html