NRC, Congress tackle controversy over interim storage site in Utah

The debate over whether a Utah Indian reservation should be the site of an interim storage site for the nation's inventory of utility spent nuclear fuel was waged by both the administrative and legislative arms of government in the week ending Apr 8.

Of most immediate import were lengthy oral arguments Apr 6 by NRC's Atomic Safety & Licensing Board (ASLB) on an appeal by the state of an earlier board decision that would have advanced the licensing of the 4,000-cask facility utility that consortium Private Fuel Storage LLC (PFS) wants to construct on the reservation of the Skull Valley Band of the Goshutes.

The board ruled on Feb 24 that there is less than a 1-in-a-million chance a radiation leak would be caused if a plane from a nearby Air Force base struck the facility, an issue that has many tribal members and Utahs worried. The panel, which split 2-1 on the issue in the earlier decision, heard arguments last week on the consequences of the loss of the cask system's "overpack shielding" if it were struck by an aircraft, as well as the jet crash data that contributed to the basis of ASLB's decision. No timetable was offered for a decision by the board.

Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah) reintroduced legislation Apr 6 that would designate 100,000 acres of the Cedar Mountain desert range, including the land on which PFS wants to construct a railroad spur that would deliver the spent fuel to the reservation, as wilderness. The measure passed the House last year, but was held up in the Senate at the insistence of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), according to Michele Boyd, legislative director of Washington-based Public Citizen.

A spokeswoman for Reid did not return a call for comment, but Boyd, who has closely followed nuclear storage issues for Public Citizen, explained that Reid's action was in retaliation against the Utah Senate delegation for not supporting Nevada's attempt in 2002 to block construction of the DOE repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nev. The interim storage facility PFS wants to build in Utah would operate for 40 years and would also be available to utilities that are not members of the consortium for a price.

A spokesman for Bishop was circumspect about the wilderness bill's chances in the Senate. "We'll hopefully start it a little earlier in the process and give the Senate a better chance of taking it up," he said.

Boyd said that Utah and Nevada appear to be smoothing out their differences as the Goshute facility moves closer to receiving full licensing approval. Recognizing this, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah) reportedly met with White House officials recently to seek the administration's support in blocking the PFS facility, essentially asking the administration to make good on a 2002 promise that it would not back PFS as an interim storage solution if the Utah delegation supported a Yucca Mountain repository. Hatch also has begun publicly suggesting that the waste should be stored at the facilities that produce it, though given a choice between storage in Utah and Nevada, he would pick the latter.

Administrative options for blocking the Goshute facility include the denial of lease and right-of-way applications by PFS to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for use of the land on which the facility would be constructed and over which the waste would be transported. But Glenn Carpenter, manager of BLM's Salt Lake City field office, said late last month he had not been contacted by senior officials in Washington on the right-of-way proceeding. "At this point for BLM, it's pretty low on the radar screen," he said, adding the agency has no timetable for making a final decision on the application.

Separately, Public Citizen sent a letter highlighting the dangers of the project to all five commissioners Apr 4. The letter was signed by dozens of advocacy groups. "The facility has no contingency plan for faulty containers, the storage/transport containers are of questionable structural integrity, and there is an increasing risk that PFS could well become de facto permanent storage," the letter stated.

Public Citizen has also been phoning officials of state and city governments that had expressed concerns about the Yucca Mountain project when Congress in 2002 overrode Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of the project. "Because everyone is focused on Yucca Mountain, people don't necessarily have on their radar screen that this transportation [to Utah] could happen much earlier," said Boyd. PFS hopes to open the facility by 2007, though Boyd thinks this will likely be delayed until at least 2010.

Opponents of the PFS project say they will appeal the NRC licensing decision if it does not go their way. They also are awaiting a US Supreme Court ruling on an appeal of a decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals last October that rejected state laws that would have levied taxes and fees on waste disposal activities before the laws were actually applied.

Copyright © 2005 - Platts

Please visit:  www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.