Herbert to meet with anti-foreign-waste group

Gov. Gary Herbert has agreed to meet with members of an environmental group over concerns that the state may broker a deal with EnergySolutions for the storage of foreign nuclear waste.

The meeting among Herbert and members of HEAL Utah is set for Oct. 7 in an invitation penned Tuesday by his communications director.

"Governor Herbert remains committed to stopping the importation of foreign nuclear waste, and is, like members of your organization, interested in doing what is in the best interests of all Utahns on this and all matters facing his administration," wrote spokeswoman Angie Welling.

HEAL raised the concern that top state leaders may be willing to sit down at the negotiating table with EnergySolutions given the state's troubled fiscal condition caused by declining revenues.

In February, the Salt Lake-based company offered to share its profits with the state over a 10-year-period if Utah would agree to drop its fight to stop the storage of foreign waste. That agreement could give state coffers a booster shot of as much as $1.5 billion over the next decade.

Lawmakers and former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., didn't bite at that time, even in the face of budget cuts.

The offer has been out there, however, as the state and EnergySolutions fight over the company's ability to store foreign waste absent Utah's consent in a case that is pending before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has also sent a letter to Herbert outlining his concern of a possibly resurrected deal, and on Wednesday he asked the Department of Energy to suspend any future disposal of depleted uranium until new rules come out on its storage.

Input on those rules will be gathered next week in a series of Salt Lake City meetings held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is crafting regulations that would possibly impose site-specific conditions for its storage that differ from other types of low-level radioactive waste.

Depleted uranium is the man-made result of the enrichment of natural uranium in nuclear reactors. Although it is no more "radioactive" than natural uranium, it grows "hotter" over time, giving rise to concerns of EnergySolutions' intention to store it at its Clive facility in Tooele County.

Last month, the energy department reported that nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium from the Savannah River site in Southern California will be shipped to Utah, with the first shipment set to arrive in October.

"I do not believe that such a large quantity of depleted uranium should be sent to Utah before the NRC determines what kind of evaluation will be required to ensure its safe disposal," Matheson's letter says.

e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com