Utah nuclear fuel fight going to White House

WASHINGTON — With options running out for Utah to block nuclear waste storage on Goshute tribal lands in Tooele County, Utah's two Republican senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, are taking their appeal directly to the White House.

Hatch and Bennett will meet today with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, himself a former Utahn, to enlist the administration's support in blocking the PFS consortium of nuclear power utilities from storing up to 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods in Utah.

"It is a fair statement to say we are running out of time," said an admittedly nervous Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

The appeal to the White House is the latest move by the Utah delegation, which has been meeting "continuously" to discuss how to stop PFS now that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, in a split decision, ruled PFS should be granted a license. That decision is expected to be ratified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

There is growing skepticism the delegation has the political muscle to thwart the project and that its legislative options are limited, at best.

"Oh mercy," said Rep. Rob Bishop, the Republican who represents the 1st Congressional District where the PFS storage site is located. "I still believe a legislative option is the best option, and it may be the only one."

Bishop, who admits to a certain level of legislative creativity, insists the fight in Congress is not over, nor has he given up.

He will again introduce legislation declaring federal lands around the site as wilderness, something that would block PFS from constructing a rail line to the site. But a similar measure, which passed the House last year, was thwarted by the Senate. And there is little reason, Bishop admitted, to believe it would sail through this year.

But it might stand a better chance if the Utah delegation could enlist the support of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who has been sharply critical of the Utah senators for supporting permanent nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, Nev., in exchange for a letter from then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham that no federal money would be used to support PFS.

That promise is seen by some as somewhat empty, since PFS is privately funded, anyway.

"I strongly oppose any decision that would allow storage of nuclear waste in Skull Valley," Bennett said. "I continue to believe our best course is to store the waste at its current locations until Yucca Mountain is ready. It doesn't make sense to move it twice."

But Utah's House members are not unified with the senators that supporting Yucca Mountain is the only way to keep the waste out of Utah.