"I'm guessing they didn't want to stare us down," he added, tongue in cheek.

Later, in a statement released by his office, Huntsman said, "I wish to express my personal, sincere thanks to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for listening, and thanks to all those who spoke out on this incredibly important issue."

• Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, at a press conference in the Federal Building in Salt Lake City said: "Of course I'm relieved. We've carried this battle for a long time."

Hatch said the decision is "a great victory for the state, because everybody in Utah can rest easier tonight knowing that this particular thing is not going to happen." Many people realize it's important to try to find "a non-nuclear way of busting" into underground facilities.

"But to do it in the place where they were doing it just didn't make sense to us."

The outcome "just shows that government can work if we all just work together," he said.

Hatch praised Huntsman for the public hearings the governor held on the issues, other members of the state's congressional delegation, the people who spoke out and the administration of President Bush "for recognizing the points that we were making ... that no one should have to even worry about suffering from the testing."

• Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah: "This is a welcome relief for the thousands of Utahns with serious concerns about Divine Strake.

"When I asked the Pentagon to move this test out of southern Nevada, I also suggested that they explore other methods — beside testing — to obtain the needed data. I am pleased they now plan to go that route."

• Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, in a press release: "The prospect of even a non-nuclear 'mushroom cloud' over the Nevada Test Site brings back bitter memories of how the government lied when it said there was no danger."

He called the cancellation a victory and added that if this truly signals the end of Divine Strake, "my hope is that DTRA would instead spend time and money on developing a conventional weapon that would actually be useful to our military in destroying deeply buried terrorist targets."

• Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, as relayed by his communications director, Fred Piccolo: Cannon "is very pleased Utah's concerns have been heard."

• Vanessa Pierce, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah: "The cancellation of Divine Strake is a great victory for all Utahns. And it sends a clear message: our lives, our health and our concerns matter.