Like it or not, the "hotter" radioactive waste from Fernald, Ohio, is headed to Utah, the contractor conducting the cleanup said.

The radium-bearing waste stored in concrete silos will either come through Utah by the truckloads or be dumped at Envirocare of Utah's landfill 75 miles west of Salt Lake City.

"Currently, right now our only option is to send it by truck to the Nevada Test Site," said Jeff Wagner, spokesman for Fluor Fernald, the Energy Department's contractor. "We will ship the waste off-site."

By the end of 2006, Fernald hopes to complete the cleanup of the Fernald plant, where atomic bomb fuel was made. The Fernald Performance Management Plan, released 17 months ago, specifies that 8,890 cubic yards of the silo waste would be shipped to Envirocare. It set a target date for removal of April 2005.

In order to do that, DOE would first pursue a reclassification of the Fernald tailings so that commercial companies could bid on the waste. The plan specifically mentions Envirocare by name.

"(Fernald officials) came to us," said Tim Barney, senior vice president of Envirocare. "They said we have this material. We've looked at our options and we think sending it to you would be safer and cheaper."

Without the congressional reclassification, waste would have to be shipped to the DOE-owned Nevada Test Site, a lengthy, expensive process that would require about 3,800 truckloads across the nation's highways, including I-80 through Parley's Canyon to I-15 and south to Nevada.

Envirocare has said it plans to ship the waste by rail, and that the 27 train-car loads would ultimately save U.S. taxpayers $30 million.

Recent opposition to this plan has prompted Envirocare to hold off on taking the waste until Utah wins regulatory oversight for uranium mill tailings from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and after a state task force completes its study at the end of next year. The earliest the waste would come to Utah, provided Envirocare even wins the bid, would be 2005, and then it would come only after state regulators gave their approval.

Fernald plans to move forward with or without Utah's support.

"We just need to keep moving along in this process," said Wagner. "We're obviously disappointed."

But critics say the waste doesn't have to come through Utah at all. They say Fluor Fernald is limiting its options to Nevada or Utah because it's in a rush to complete the $1.6 billion cleanup job in order to receive a substantial bonus.

"The contractors are unwilling to think outside the box because there is a bucket load of cash available to them staying within the box," said Jason Groenewold of Healthy Environmental Alliance of Utah (HEAL).