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WASHINGTON
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday authorized a
license to build a private nuclear waste storage site on the
Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation.
Private Fuel Storage, a group of utilities, wants to store
44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel at the site, 45 miles
southwest of Salt Lake City.
In a meeting that lasted about two minutes, commissioners
took a two-pronged vote. First, they affirmed an earlier ruling
that containers for the waste wouldn't release an unacceptable
amount of radiation if a jet fighter crashed into them. Then
they authorized the NRC staff to issue a license to construct
and operate the storage site.
The license will be ready after paperwork is completed, said
NRC spokesman Eliot Brenner. The timing was not immediately
clear.
"I'm very happy," said Paul Gaukler, an attorney who has
represented Private Fuel Storage in its eight-year quest to
build the waste facility. "People can be assured it's a safe
facility. The issue has been fully aired and resolved. Thank
goodness - finally."
Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett were not
immediately available for comment, nor was anyone from the Utah
governor's office in Salt Lake City immediately available.
Utah politicians have made numerous attempts to block
construction of the storage site, including a last-minute
unsuccessful attempt in July to amend the national energy bill
to require a terrorism threat study before the NRC could grant a
license. The effort failed when Nevada Sen. Harry Reid objected.
State officials have said they would fight the license in
court if necessary.
An impoverished tribe, the Goshutes had been looking for ways
to make money and eventually teamed with Private Fuel Storage to
propose the station.
Private Fuel Storage's facility would be a temporary dump
pending the opening of a national repository at Nevada's Yucca
Mountain.
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