From Deseret News archives:
Huntsman takes N-storage opposition to Cheney
Governor says security issues not addressed
And he liked what he heard.
"He did his homework, he was in a receiving mode and he had some questions," Huntsman said after the meeting. "We got a very good response."
Huntsman, who met with the secretary of Homeland Security earlier in the day, used his Washington, D.C., meetings his second on the nuclear waste issue in a month to hammer home a point he said the NRC has ignored.
The research and design of the facility proposed by Private Fuel Storage were developed before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he said. But the world changed that day, and Huntsman said the NRC has failed to consider homeland security issues as part of its deliberations.
"They looked at safety, but they did not look at security," Huntsman told the vice president. "That is the message we are trying to get to the highest level."
PFS, a consortium of nuclear power utilities, wants to store as much as 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in above-ground canisters on Goshute tribal lands in Skull Valley in remote Tooele County. The waste would stay there until a permanent facility was opened, presumably at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
Earlier this year, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a quasi-judicial body that reviews license applications for the NRC, recommended that PFS be granted a license. The board is currently considering a state request to reconsider, but even Huntsman said the decision to grant the license is expected.
Consequently, the state is focusing its opposition efforts on blocking PFS through other administrative means, including appeals to the Department of Interior, which would still be required to approve the lease with the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes and to grant approval for a railroad spur to the site.
Huntsman's meeting with Cheney elevates the stakes by bringing Homeland Security into the mix something where the White House might want to intervene.
"We have got to get people thinking about (the Homeland Security risks)," Huntsman said. "And Homeland Security has been left out. But the realities of life today have changed substantially since 9/11."
And, he added, the NRC has "not done due diligence on homeland security. So why not now?"
And if not the NRC, maybe the White House will listen.
E-mail: spang@desnews.com
Comments
- BYU football: What others are saying 7:45 p.m.
- Should districts pay union reps? 7:12 p.m.
- I-80 reconstruction finally done 6:55 p.m.
- Child porn case nets fed sentence 6:44 p.m.
- Groups celebrate Dobbs' CNN exit 6:43 p.m.
- H1N1 slightly down in Utah 6:40 p.m.
- Retirement fund still seeking money 6:39 p.m.
- Judge to send message in mink case 6:37 p.m.
- Man arrested in armed robbery 6:35 p.m.
- Smoking up nationally, down in Utah 5:36 p.m.
- House passes health care bill
333 - SLC council OKs gay rights policies
317 - TCU showdown has big implications
195 - Senators want food tax restored
158 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Will state consider gay rights law?
137 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
134 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
118
One of my guilty pleasures is perusing the covers of celebrity magazines...
The galactic center shines like firelight through gaps in …
yeah but zero big game win. Utah fans will be sad after Maxi leaves. ...
Per the Utah Department of Corrections website, he is in Draper prison,...
Nice to see, once again, how many judgemental people there are out there. ...
With the comments I made about coaches, I did not want to come off as a suck...
Byu has none. None. Beating a pathetic 7-4 Michigan team in 1984 is the...
My children attend a Jordan School District High School. In 2006 our...
My sympathies to the Schmanski family. Shortly after Tori's accident my...
BYU is also silent about BCS --after big loss to TCU. BYU was silent...
Once again, the public is being stirred up with half-truths coming from some...
PG DWILL SG MATHEWS SF AK PF MILSAP C FES 2ND UNIT PG PRICE-MAYNOR SG...


You can be the first to comment on this story.