McCain tells Utahns he backs nuclear storage

Arizona Sen. John McCain said Friday he supports high-level nuclear waste storage in Nevada — even though Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. praised McCain as the only GOP presidential candidate who understands Western issues.

Huntsman, along with most elected officials and voters in the West, opposes the proposed Yucca Mountain facility, citing concerns about radioactive waste being transported through Utah and other states on its way to the site.

But McCain mocked a question about the dangers of transporting nuclear waste while speaking with Utah reporters.

"Oh, you have to travel through states ... I am for Yucca Mountain. I'm for storage facilities. It's a lot better than sitting outside power plants all over America," he said, then added, "I don't mean to be sarcastic. I apologize. But I believe we can transport waste safely."

McCain said other countries including France have shown nuclear power can be generated "safely, economically and their greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically reduced. I worry a lot more about climate change than I do about transporting nuclear waste."

Huntsman introduced McCain at the mid-morning press conference held at the Grand America Hotel as the "quintessentially Western candidate ... he understands our issues and our values and that's very, very important."

Afterward, Huntsman acknowledged he disagrees with McCain on transporting nuclear waste. "When it goes through your back yard I would probably reflect the concern that a lot of people have," the governor said.

Huntsman is supporting McCain's presidential bid despite the popularity in Utah of another GOP candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who headed the successful 2002 Winter Olympics and is a Mormon like the majority of the state's residents.

Utah's governor said McCain "has an unparalleled world view ... he understands how to put the pieces back together again." Still, Huntsman said, within the next year, "we're all going to get around whoever the Republican nominee is."

McCain's overnight visit came just over a week after Romney raised more than $1 million in Salt Lake City and St. George. The current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is expected in the state soon.

Huntsman said the visits are a result of Utah's participation in the Western-states primary set for Feb. 5, 2008. Utah is participating at a cost of some $3.5 million, in the hopes of attracting campaign spending and candidate attention.