NRC ruling won't end fight over nuclear waste

WASHINGTON — Utah officials say they are disappointed but not surprised that the Nuclear Regulation Commission ruled Friday to let a consortium of nuclear power utilities store nuclear waste on Goshute Tribal lands in Tooele County.

"I think we gave up on the NRC a long time ago," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah. "We could see where they were headed."

The timing of the ruling was more surprising. The NRC was set to rule Friday on the last in a long line of appeals by the state, this one over the issue of military over-flights by fighters using the Utah Test and Training Range.

The NRC denied that appeal, as expected, but then, in a 3-1 vote, ordered its staff to go ahead and issue Private Fuel Storage a license to store up to 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in above-ground casks.

"Our decision today concludes this protracted adjudication, which has generated more than 40 published board decisions and more than 30 published commission decisions," the commission wrote in its ruling. "The adjudicatory effort, plus our staff's separate safety and environmental reviews, gives us reasonable assurance that PFS's proposed (storage facility) can be constructed and operated safety."

The ruling does not necessarily open the door for PFS to begin construction. The state will appeal the ruling in federal court and will likely seek an injunction blocking the consortium from proceeding.

"Although this is certainly a setback," said Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., "it does not mean that spent nuclear fuel will be shipped to Utah any time soon. This is a battle that will take several years to fight to completion, but it is also a battle that I intend to win."

Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett agree. Hatch said there are "just too many administrative and legal hurdles to clear for this to ever become a reality," and he pledged to continue pursuing every avenue of opposition.

"It's no secret that the NRC had its own motivations for granting this license, and up until now the PFS plan has enjoyed the protection of the NRC process," Hatch said. "Today's decision opens the proposal up for legal challenges from the state and administrative challenges from the Department of Energy and the White House, and we are still pursuing legislative solutions."

Appeals to come