Utah officials will get another chance April 6 to argue that the Private Fuel Storage high-level radioactive waste storage facility planned for Tooele County is too risky.

Three assistant state attorneys general will travel to Rockville, Md., to appear before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, seeking to overturn the board's earlier decision against state attempts to block the project.

PFS would place most of America's nuclear power plant waste, some 40,000 tons, in "temporary" storage that could continue for 40 years.

With a stream of challenges undermining plans to build a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., officials have expressed concern that if the Tooele County facility is constructed, it will become a permanent storage site.

On Feb. 24, in a 2-1 split vote, the board ruled that Utah's arguments citing danger from airplane crashes were not enough to torpedo the PFS plant. The board specifically refused to consider hazards of terrorism at the site, which is about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City on land owned by the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians.

That seemed to be the last roadblock erected in the way of PFS other than the final ruling by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and such organizations as the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

But the state quietly appealed the ruling, and the board is hearing the appeal.

On March 7, according to an NRC document, the state filed a motion for reconsideration of the board decision. PFS and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the board responses to the state's position.

The board's three members wrote that they have reviewed the answers and "we believe that a resolution of this matter would be served by having the state submit a reply." That is to be in their hands by the morning of Wednesday, March 30, they added.

"The parties are also advised that we have now determined, based on our review of the pleadings thus far before us, that our analysis and resolution of the matter would be aided by having counsel appear before us for oral arguments," the board added in a note dated March 22.

The arguments will commence at 1 p.m. in the board's hearing room in Rockville, Md., and could last three hours, says the order. It was signed by administrative judges Michael C. Farrar, board chairman, Peter S. Lam and Paul B. Abramson.

Utah's appeal could not be released as a public document under NRC rules. However, Denise Chancellor, one of the assistant attorneys general who is traveling to Rockville, summarized its contents.

According to Chancellor, points being challenged are:

• The legal theory underlying the decision.

• The technical standard.

• Data on aircraft crashes.

Based on the filings, the board wants more information, she said. "It certainly cannot hurt" the state's case, she added.

"They are interested in the issues that the state raised, and in particular the legal standards," Chancellor added. "Every time we can hang in there, we're thankful for that."

---

E-mail: bau@desnews.com