NRC lets Utah, Indian tribes intervene in proposed nuclear waste site
Story-Date: 12:02 a.m. PST Thursday , April 23, 1998

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NRC lets Utah, Indian tribes intervene in proposed nuclear waste site


By Kristen Moulton
Associated Press Writer


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will let the
state, three Indian groups and two ranching-land investment groups have a
place at the table as it decides whether highly radioactive nuclear waste
will be stored in Utah.

The decision, announced Wednesday, was the upshot of a three-day hearing in
January in which attorneys for the state and Skull Valley Band of Goshutes
clashed over the range of safety issues raised by the state.

The hearing was to decide which parties can intervene in the arduous
licensing process for the project.

Gov. Mike Leavitt was pleased by the announcement.

"It's a very important step. We anticipated we would be granted standing,
but it's good news to hear it occurred," he said. "It's a way for us to ask
the question, `If this is so safe, why don't we keep it right where it
is."'

Private Fuels Storage, a consortium of eastern and midwestern utilities,
wants to build an aboveground storage for radioactive waste on Goshute land
in the west desert, about 50 miles west of Salt Lake City. The spent fuel
rods would be held in stainless steel casks until a permanent storage site
is ready, probably at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin said PFS isn't opposed to the state taking part
in the hearing process.

"We thought it was appropriate that the state participate," she said. "We
don't at all consider this to be a setback."

The Skull Valley Band sees the opportunity for economic development on the
depressed reservation, and believes PFS will build and manage the project
safely.

"This issue is not going to go away," said Danny Quintana, attorney for the
Skull Valley Band. "It's in the national interest to build this facility."

He said that although only 11 electric utilities would build the storage, a
licensed site likely would attract spent rods from all nuclear power plants
in the country.

Leavitt and the Legislature are fighting the proposal, and even went so far
in the recent legislative session as to take possession of the only road
leading to the proposed site. The idea is for the state to refuse PFS a
permit to transport the nuclear waste by truck over the road.

PFS also is considering building a rail spur to the existing main rail
line, 25 miles from the site. That would make use of the road unnecessary.

Besides the state and the Skull Valley Band, those allowed to intervene in
the hearings are the Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia and Confederated Tribes of the
Goshute Reservation, both Indian groups, and Castle Rock Land and Livestock
and Skull Valley Co., land companies.

The administrative judges who heard the testimony in January, however,
decided to not allow three others as intervenors: Scientists for Secure
Waste Storage, Confederated Tribes Chairman David Pete and Ensign Ranches
of Utah.

State attorneys had fought to keep the scientist group out of the
proceedings.

Quintana said the group includes Nobel laureates and other esteemed
scientists who would speak about the safety of the temporary storage
proposed for the site.

"I'll just bring them in as expert witnesses anyway," he said. "They'll
bring truth and honesty and level the playing field."



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