Research on depleted uranium to start

Utah's Radiation Control Board unanimously agreed Tuesday to embark on a scientific and technical exploration of depleted uranium, its radioactive nature and the impacts of banning its storage in Utah.

The decision pleased opponents to the storage of depleted uranium and the company they fear wants to bring it to Utah — EnergySolutions Inc.

Val Christensen, president of the Utah-based company, said the Clive facility in western Tooele County already takes in some amounts of the radioactive material as part of the waste it receives, but he stressed there are no contracts to store "massive" quantities.

"This is exactly the outcome we would have wanted," Christensen said after the meeting. "We want the board to get more technical information and base their actions from a scientific standpoint, not a political standpoint."

Vanessa Pierce, executive director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah), was pleased as well.

"We're happy to see that the board is willing to take a serious look at a serious issue," Pierce said.

HEAL members and other activists have raised an alarm over the storage of depleted uranium — the byproduct of the uranium-enrichment process — because it grows radioactively "hotter" with the passage of time.

Right now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has classified the material as Class A waste — waste that is less radioactive than so-called Class B and Class C wastes.

The commission, however, is set to begin a rule-making process for establishing site-specific conditions that could come into play for the longterm disposal of the material.

The push is on, given the country's renewed attention to the development of nuclear-power energy.

But at issue Tuesday was if the board has the legal authority to impose a moratorium — if even a temporary ban — until the commission comes out with the rule.

Attorneys at Tuesday's meeting disagreed on that authority, with an assistant Utah attorney general asked to investigate the issue, saying that such action could be "legally defensible" if backed by appropriate evidence.

But James Holtkamp, an attorney representing EnergySolutions, warned board members that a law passed by the Utah Legislature commonly called the "No More Stringent Rule" would present a tedious legal hurdle to overcome.