RE: Utah Escalates Nuclear Waste Fight

["Straka, James E." <jstraka@doeal.gov>]

The governor seems to forget where the radioactive material came from
originally.  His state benefited from uranium exploration and development
over several decades.  Ever hear of Moab, Utah.  The town wouldn't exist if
not for uranium mining.  His NOT IN MY BACK YARD statement is rather self
serving and narrow minded.

My Personal Opinion,
Jim Straka

> ----------
> From:
> PBarring%kdhe.state.ks.us@internet.al.gov[SMTP:PBarring%kdhe.state.ks.us@i
> nternet.al.gov]
> Sent: 	Friday, December 08, 2000 7:53 AM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	Re: Utah Escalates Nuclear Waste Fight
> 
> 
> 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.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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