No nuke waste in Utah

The clock is ticking on Utah's future.

Utahns have until May 8 to tell the Bureau of Land Management how they feel about Private Fuel Storage LLC's request for permission to construct a rail line to transport spent nuclear fuel to the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, or the alternative of building an intermodal transfer facility on BLM lands to ship the spent rods by heavy-haul trucks.

It's no secret how this newspaper's editorial board feels about the issue. Utah shouldn't be the waste disposal site for the rest of the nation. Worse, storing 4,000 casks of spent nuclear fuel above ground near the Utah Test and Training Range and near I-80 is problematic both in terms of safety and national security.

The proposal before the BLM should be a no-go. And Utahns need to tell the agency so.

But we strongly encourage Utahns to take their time to compose thoughtful comments. Regulations require the BLM to answer, among other questions, the following:

• Is the project in the public interest?

• Is PFS technically and financially capable to successfully pursue the project?

• Is the project consistent with existing public land law?

• Is the project consistent with BLM's management of public lands?

In our view, the answer to each of these questions is a resounding NO!

While it may be in the interest of out-of-state nuclear power plant operators to establish a "temporary" disposal site in Utah, that pales in comparison to the risks that would be assumed by the state both in the transport of the casks as well as their placement in Utah.

As for PFS's technical expertise and financial capabilities, both are great unknowns. This private storage facility would be the largest ever in the United States, according to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. In the post-9/11 world, the security demands would be intense. As for finances, a number of PFS partners have fallen away, although PFS officials say they believe they can secure other backers. That remains to be seen.