In Utah, a nuclear scrap

[seemslikeadream]

Posted on Sun, Mar. 27, 2005

An Indian tribe is fighting to build the largest radioactive waste storage site in the U.S.

By Kirk Johnson
New York Times News Service

SKULL VALLEY, Utah - The Goshute Indians are not mighty in number, financial capital or political clout. With only about 120 members, their tribe has mostly been a footnote in the saga of Anglo-Indian relations in the West.

Their reservation, just slightly bigger than Manhattan, is mostly empty - a windswept land of sage and scrub 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

But over the last eight years the Goshutes have outlasted, outwitted and outplayed powerful forces arrayed against them, as they have sought to build what would be the nation's biggest bunker for the storage of highly radioactive waste.

Some tribal members say such a facility would give them an economic boost in an area of the state where Indians have had few environmentally friendly options.

more
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/11238488.htm

[kokofitz]

1. It has to go somewhere

Face it, nuclear waste is here to stay.

If they want the acility and can meet NRC and EPA standards, why not?

[seemslikeadream]

2. Do you want it to pass by your house?

http://www.citizenalert.org/yuccanew/mapmed.htm

Yucca Mountain: In Case of Accident...
Select any point of the nuclear waste transport route on the map below and see how many people may be effected by a nuclear waste transportation accident.
Each red dot () represents 7,500 people.



Although the specific routes and transportation methods have not been made public, this map represents the basic, probable nuclear waste transport routes to Yucca Mountain, Nevada, in the United States. The nuclear waste will probably be transported using truck, train, and barge. In the likely event of an accident, the containers for the waste may be compromised and the direct physical effect may be magnified. To be considered effected, a person may be directly exposed to radiation, indirectly exposed to radiation, forced to move (permananetly or temporarily), or economically effected by the accident.
http://www.elvisible.com/yucca/

http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/states/us.htm

http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/states/states.htm

Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Storage
and Transport
http://www.ems.org/nuclear/yucca_mountain.html

Yucca Mountain
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/60minutes/main579696.shtml
The Science of Yucca Mountain
Debate Lingers over Safety of Nation's Proposed Nuclear Vault
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/july/yucca/

[kokofitz]

3. No NIMBY's in my house.

I grew up within spitting distance of the Paducah Gasseous Diffusion Plant. Now there were/are some serious problems there.

"Do you want it to pass by your house?"

That's alarmist at best. The better question is "Do you want it left where it is?'

There's a great deal of hoopla over rad waste. You've greater odds of issues from your smoke detector.

BTW The map is wrong. Colorado allows no pass thru by rail or road. I asked my hubby. He dealt with rad waste for most of his professional career. CO requires waste to pass from the east no farther than I-25. Then it has to either go north to Wyoming or south to NM and around to get to Utah.

If you want to really worry, worry about gasoline/diesel by road and rail spill possibility/probability, then consider benzene in your ground water.

[seemslikeadream]

4. How nice of Colorado to opt out

Will you give that same privilege to the rest of the states?

I'll wait till you ask your hubby.

[AndyTiedye]

5. I 70 Follows the Colorado River

You really don't want any nuke waste near there.

It would be more than just Colorado that would be hurting if
a truckload of nuke waste lost it on one of those switchbacks
and went into the river.

No water for Los Angeles, or most of the Southwest for that matter.

[kokofitz]

7. How condescending of you.

I'm sorry that your reading comprehension skills are such that you were unclear that I asked for information from one who has experience with the matter being discussed.

As for the rest of the states, if I understand your question correctly: what each state allows or disallows is up to their individual state legislatures.

[seemslikeadream]

8. Condescending? Not at all

You are the one that presented your hubby as the expert.

BTW What is an "acility"

BTW you say:

"Colorado allows NO pass thru by rail or road."

"CO requires waste to pass from the east no farther than I-25. Then it has to either go north to Wyoming or south to NM and around to get to Utah."


Is I-25 in Colorado or not? If so then the waste is passing through Colorado.

Starting in 2005, the remainder, about 55 shipments, would be transported through rural Nevada to Interstate 80, east through Salt Lake City and Utah, through most of Wyoming and then south on Interstate 25 through Colorado including Denver on its way to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.
http://www.death-valley.us/article726.html


BTW you say:
"You've greater odds of issues from your smoke detector"

Do you really know what we're talking about here?

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:WUhDT7ojprQJ:www.mapscience.org/plumes/Pittsburgh.pdf+accident+nuclear+waste+route&hl=en

Millions of Americans Are Threatened With Increased Radiation Exposure

High-level radioactive waste will be shipped through 43 States on its way to a repository just outside Las Vegas, Nevada.4 This will place tens of millions of Americans at risk of exposure to nuclear radiation.5
Shipments would travel through or near most major American cities - at least 109 cities with populations over 100,000 would be affected.6
Among the cities facing radioactive risks are New York City, Chicago; Atlanta; Washington, DC; Pittsburgh; St. Louis; Phoenix; Portland, ME; Hartford, CT; Des Moines; Omaha; Kansas City; Sacramento; Baltimore; Cleveland; and Salt Lake City.7
A Staggering Number of Shipments Planned

Approximately 53,000 truck shipments or 10,000 rail shipments will be required to move the 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste to Las Vegas.8
To put this in perspective, a truck shipment of high-level radioactive waste would be required every 4 hours, around-the-clock, 365 days a year, for 24 years.
Fifteen states would experience daily shipments and 35 weekly shipments of high-level radioactive waste for the next 24 years.9
A Transportation Accident Is Likely

Even DOE, with its questionable models and methods, predicts that 66 truck10 or 10 rail accidents11 will occur. DOE just assumes that regulations will prevent human error just like regulations prevented the human errors that led to Three-Mile Island.12
Other experts estimate there will be 130 truck accidents or 440 rail accidents over 40 years.13
DOE disingenuously claims that the track record proves nuclear waste shipments will be safe.14 There have been only about as many shipments in the last 30 years than DOE proposes in one year.15 Those relatively isolated shipments were over short distances, each with individualized attention and safety precautions. In contrast, DOE now plans thousands of shipments traveling almost four times farther than earlier shipments. These much greater numbers will result in less experienced drivers and less individual safety planning for each trip.16
An Accident Would Be Devastating

According to DOE, a train accident such as last year's Baltimore tunnel fire would have resulted in widespread exposure to deadly radiation. Approximately 250 deaths and $10 - $14 billion in cleanup costs would have resulted.17 Disturbingly, the Baltimore train tunnel remains a DOE-approved eligible transportation route.
A similar accident in a rural area would contaminate 42 square miles - an area nearly the size of Washington, DC -- and take over 15 months and $600 million to clean up.18
Unbelievably, DOE points to the shipping casks as providing adequate protection - but the casks will only be tested using computer analysis and small scale - rather than full-size - models of casks.19
Even without an accident, millions will be exposed to increased radiation. The DOE approved casks leak radiation20 - they have been called portable x-ray machines that cannot be turned off. There is a reason the x-ray technician steps behind a lead shield when taking an x-ray. But DOE would let anyone in traffic near a radioactive nuclear waste shipment be exposed, increasing their cancer risk.
http://www.ananuclear.org/CARTYfactsheet.html

[kokofitz]

9. I likely have a better idea than you think.

"acility" a typo - facility.

I stated pass thru (through). Not pass into. Perhaps I should have been clearer. CO permits no rad shipments to pass west of I-75. I said CO requires waste to pass from the east no farther than I-25. "From the east" is the operative clue here.

Is I-25 in Colorado or not? If so then the waste is passing through Colorado.

That happened because of a deal between the CO DEQ and the NRC. Incidentally, I-25 has always been allowed for use for such shipments in CO, but only insofar as such use moves the waste out of state from I-70. It may not pass through the entirety of I-25 within CO.

If you really want to get into it, we can discuss CFR 29, CFR 40, CFR 49, and HM 181, as well as the NRC regs governing such shipments. I've a pretty good coach. He worked in and taught proper and legal transportation of such goods for 19 years. He still consults. I help with the letters, research, etc.

[seemslikeadream]

10. smoke detector?

We're talking about all nuclear waste from every nuclear plant in this country traveling on the roads and rails to Yucca Mountain. Please don't change the subject.

[kokofitz]

12. No change at all.

Read post 11.

Some of the largest rad waste disposers are smoke detector manufacturers.

[seemslikeadream]

13. 77,000 tons - 24 years

Approximately 53,000 truck shipments or 10,000 rail shipments will be required to move the 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste to Las Vegas.8
To put this in perspective, a truck shipment of high-level radioactive waste would be required every 4 hours, around-the-clock, 365 days a year, for 24 years.
Fifteen states would experience daily shipments and 35 weekly shipments of high-level radioactive waste for the next 24 years

[kokofitz]

14. Now go check on how much other, potentially more hazardous material

goes over the roads and rails daily. Gasoline, diesel, kerosene, UF6, MEK, acetone, IPA, various chlorinated solvents, the list is nearly endless.

Incidentally, the required training for hazmat and hazwaste drivers is unbelievable, as are the restrictions on when and where they may haul the loads.

It's not perfect. I don't like it. Unfortunately, it's necessary.

Once again I ask: would you rather we left all rad waste where it currently sits?

[seemslikeadream]

15. Well it's never going to Yucca Mountain

During the first 24 years of Yucca Mountain’s operations, the DOE would make either 8,000 rail and truck shipments or 39,000 truck shipments through Illinois. Over 38 years, the DOE could make either 16,000 rail and truck shipments or more than 69,000 truck shipments, through the state.

The DOE’s proposal to ship spent fuel by barge on Lake Michigan also would affect Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Because the Kewaunee, Point Beach and Palisades reactor sites lack rail access, DOE has proposed shipping large rail casks by barge from these sites into the Ports of Milwaukee and Muskegon. After being transferred to rail cars, these casks would travel through Illinois by train. The DOE could make up to 431 barge shipments on Lake Michigan over 38 years.

"I’m astounded that the NRC has not included submersion testing in its proposal, given that the Department of Energy is considering hundreds of barge shipments on the Great Lakes if the Yucca Mountain Project moves forward," said Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist with Nuclear Information and Resource Service. "Moreover, the NRC’s study would also ignore cask vulnerabilities to a terrorist attack."

Independent analyses have indicated that an attack on a nuclear waste convoy could release lethal doses of radiation.

"The Yucca Mountain and Private Fuel Storage projects would involve unprecedented nuclear shipping campaigns. How can the NRC consider licensing these projects without thoroughly evaluating the vulnerabilities of nuclear waste transportation casks?" asked Lisa Gue, senior energy analyst with Public Citizen. "The proposed study does not go nearly far enough to address the concerns of communities along transportation routes," she concluded.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/0318-05.htm


Plan for nuclear waste dump in Nevada close to meltdown


Setbacks bring push for other options

By Erica Werner
Associated Press
Published March 27, 2005

...

About 55,000 tons of commercial reactor fuel and 16,000 tons of high-level defense waste are waiting for transport at sites in 39 states. The government, which originally promised nuclear utilities it would begin accepting their spent fuel in 1998, is facing the potential of billions of dollars in damages for failing to make good on that pledge.

Damages against the government are estimated at up to $3 billion if the Yucca Mountain site opens in 2010, 12 years after the government's contractual obligation to start storing the nation's nuclear waste, Garrish told lawmakers. Damages could be $1 billion a year after that.

The Justice Department settled a suit with Chicago-based electric utility Exelon Corp. in August for a sum that could rise to $600 million if the storage site does not open until 2015. Other suits are moving forward, including one by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

...

The Energy Department has estimated the total cost of the Yucca project at $58 billion, but critics say it could rise much higher. President Bush's 2006 budget request for the project was $651 million-- about half what the Energy Department envisioned.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0503270412mar27,1,4149411.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[kokofitz]

16. It may not go to Yucca, but it will go somewhere

Now, one more time: care to answer my question?

[seemslikeadream]

17. Have you got another $3 billion?

The nuclear waste is in a more stable place now than being driven all over this country 24/7 in the unsafe manner to an unsafe site that is being proposed.

It won't go anywhere.

[kokofitz]

18. If you believe that, you've never seen the temporary storage facilities.

But you still have failed to answer my question. you've given me your opinion on where you think it will be.

I'll be giving up on that answer now.

[seemslikeadream]

21. Up till now there has been 3,000 shipments of spent nuclear fuel

by highways and railways, some has traveled by barge. This is what your hubby is talking about. That amount would skyrocket to 45,000 maybe 100,000.

3,000

100,000

you do the math, it's gonna sit right where it is. I have answered your question.


No safe place to put it.

No safe way of transporting it.

[kokofitz]

11. Almost forgot

"You've greater odds of issues from your smoke detector"

Do you really know what we're talking about here?

Look up the components of most smoke detectors. Get enough of them, like the kid in Detroit did a few years back, and you can make your own nuclear bomb from harvested rad components.

[MadHound]

39. Umm, you can't exactly make a nuclear bomb with that friend

At best, you can make a dirty bomb, but not a full blown nuclear bomb.

[Swamp Rat]

19. How condescending of you.

"I'm sorry that your reading comprehension skills..." :spank:

[kokofitz]

20. It's the retired ENGLISH TEACHER in me. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

22. Well, this PROFESSOR was pointing out your blatant hypocrisy.

Some of us can teach in more than one language too. :)

[seemslikeadream]

24. Byen mersi

Non, mo pale pa kreyol. ;)

[Swamp Rat]

25. De rien, il n'y a pas de quoi.

Je ne parle pas bien kreyol et français, pero hablo español e português muito bem, então, je comprends kreyol et français (Italiano, Catalan et d'autres langues romane) très bien. :hi:

Now, back to the original topic, before the disruption? :)

[Algomas]

26. Hey Swamp Rat, this is your best yet...

Can you make his lipstick a bit more whoriffic. Like the drunken slut he really is underneath the phony machismo.
Your photoshop skills are improving, keep it up!

[Swamp Rat]

27. Multumesc!

:hi:

I wish I had a full version of Photoshop. I'm using Photoshop Elements and learning through trial and error. The way I figure it, if I make an error, it certainly won't make the reptiles look "better." :D

I appreciate your kind words. :)

[kokofitz]

33. Hypocricy?

There is no hypocricy here. Nothing to see. Move along.

fact: Nuclear waste exists whether we like it or not. Some of it has a hlf life in excess of 250,000 years.

fact: Said waste needs a safe home somewhere to minimize the risk of it's leakage.

hope: JPL has managed to neutralize small amounts of waste using finely tuned lasers. Let us all hope that this process can be perfected. If the process is perfected, nuclear waste in and of itself will become a virtual non-issue. There will continue to be an issue of whether the waste is transported to the neutralization facility or vice versa.

nuclear waste: We have it. No one wants it. It won't go away on its own for millennia. Options need to be found and addressed.

[seemslikeadream]

35. If you don't want spent rods even passing through your state

I doubt you want it stored there. Why should any other citizen of this country be expected to endure what you are unwilling to live with?

There's the hypocrisy.

Facts

A safe way to transport spent rods has not been found yet.

Yucca Mountain is not a safe place to store spent rods

You say:
"Options need to be found and addressed."

I say sure when do we start! No fair conning the Native Americans into storing the fuel on that tiny bit of land we so graciously let them keep while we stole the rest.

Since you brought it up retired school teacher at least try the spell check. Didn't you find it annoying when a student misspelled a word?

[kokofitz]

36. I truly have no issues with spent rods being stored in my state,

provided that the best current technology is used. It can't happen near my home. I live in sinkhole central, just north of the main entrance to Mammouth Cave.

Also, I said that I taught. I never said I could type.

[MadHound]

40. And that sentence right there is the key

"Provided that the best current technology is used" Trouble is, as you should well know since your husband is a retired nuclear worker, the NRC, DOE, and DOT won't being using the best current technology, they will be using the most cost effective technology. Thus, without the best tech, the most common cause of nuclear "errors", human mistakes, will be grossly magnified.

And it is rather disingenous of you to state initially that you wouldn't mind rad waste in your back yard, only to state a few minutes later that it couldn't occurr there due to the geology of the place.

You're also failing to mention that rad waste could continue to be stored on site, if the NRC and DOE would force the plants to get their waste storage sites up to code. Many haven't, and many are allowing them to deteriorate, and either aren't getting fined, or simply have the fines built into their budget as a business expense. This is also a tactic of many companies who ship rad materials, simply building fine monies into the budget. Thus, the cost is passed onto the consumer, yet the "oops" potentially lasts forever.

Sorry friend, but it is high time that we stopped producing rad waste period. There is no sure fire way of getting rid of the waste, yet we are continuing to produce more of it. Until we can find a guaranteed safe method of disposabl, we simply shouldn't create anymore. There are other, better methods of getting energy. Hell, a 1991 DOE report on our energy capabilities stated that there is enough harvestable wind energy in North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas to provide all the electricity needed in this country through the year 2030, even without new technological breathroughs. So why are we pushing nukes?

[Swamp Rat]

37. Ooops! It is spelled HYPOCRISY.

You are right, nothing to see here. Just another disruptor claiming to be an English teacher who cannot spell English words correctly. HAHA! É muito divertido! :D

Good luck, you'll need it.

[ImpeachBush]

30. Looks to me like it has to pass through Salt Lake City ...

Very few rail options through the state of Utah. And while I'm not particularly fond of the religious capital of the west, I spent many years living near there, and know how devastating it would be if radiation/chemical leakage occurred on that corridor. And not just for the people of Utah. In fact, there have been several recent incidents where rail transport of chemicals caused major trouble in the Salt Lake area - one, a rail car that was being eaten away from the inside out because the shippers filled it with a dangerous, illegal chemical mixture (many people forced to evacute their homes, workers baffled about how do deal with the leakage and cleanup), then a rail car at one of the checmial depots in the state was found to be leaking toxic radiation waste, and realized it had probably leaked this stuff as it moved from one side of the country to the other. So, I think the more densely populated areas of Utah are a little skeptical, right now, about how safe rail transportation of toxic substances is.

Other things you should be aware of - nearly every summer there are large wildfires in the Skull Valley area. They don't get much press because there's not much out there to worry about burning - no million dollar mansions or ski resorts or anything like that. But fires that do occur there burn fast and furious because of the desert foliage and nearby steep terrain. Its just one more thing to think about when you're planning a toxic waste disposal site.

Some Goshutes want the waste - its a way to make money in a part of the state that is devoid of money-making opportunities (no casino will ever be allowed in Utah) and pretty much isolated with a hell of a lot of poverty. Maybe if the state of Utah would throw a little money towards the area, set aside some land for public maintenance and use, maybe then the majority of Goshutes would change their minds about bringing that crap onto their land.

[kokofitz]

34. It's not easy, but SLC can be avoided.

I'm not necessarily in favor of a nuclear waste dump anywhere. Unfortunately, nuclear waste is an issue we have to deal with.

Point of interest: There is already a huge amount of low level rad waste about 80 miles west of SLC in the USPCI, now Laidlaw, facility buried deep in abandoned salt mines in a facility known as Grassy Mountain. There are several trucks and trailers buried there as well because they became irradiated during loading or shipment.

Dealing with rad waste is a huge problem. I'm just trying to see both sides of the issue.

Given currnet treatment options, it's a lose/lose situatiion. Let's hope the JPL crew perfects their process.

[ImpeachBush]

41. Maybe Salt Lake City can be avoided ... however ...

As far as I know, there are no rail options from east to west that doesn't pass near population centers. I guess I'm just partial to the wildlands of Utah, because I lived in the state for a very long time and I love the PLACE. If you want my opinion, the folks who benefit from the power produced by the nuclear plants should be the ones who have to deal with the dangers of storing the waste. So, if you live in Tennessee, and your power is provided courtesy of the Soddy Daisy or Oak Ridge facilities, then set aside some public lands in your own state to house the waste. End of argument.

[seemslikeadream]

6. Requiem for Yucca Mountain

...

But instead of acknowledging what its own scientists and research were showing - that the geology of Yucca Mountain was so seriously flawed that the site should be disqualified - the Department of Energy turned the concept of geologic isolation on its head. The agency set about changing rules, regulations and guidelines so as to cover up site deficiencies and permit the program to go forward in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
That was borne out last July, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the state of Nevada's legal challenge to the radiation health-protection standards for the Yucca site. The ruling meant that guaranteeing public safety for 10,000 years wasn't enough; instead, radiation coming from the dump must be safe for as long as 1 million years, the expected lifetime of the dump. This will be a difficult feat for both the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department, and a license to open Yucca Mountain depends on it.
But there have been other signs that Yucca Mountain may be one of the nation's costliest boondoggles:
The Energy Department has pushed back Yucca Mountain's opening from 2010 to 2012 to 2015 to 2017, all within a few months.
The Bush administration cut Yucca Mountain's 2006 budget in half, to $651 million. Ted Garrish, Yucca Mountain's acting director, has said that the program will need more than $1.5 billion a year for the next decade in order to open.
more
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_2624276
Nevada files brief in suit against nuclear waste railroad
March 25, 2005, 08:54 AM CST

Nevada is accusing the Energy Department of failing to complete required environmental studies, and of usurping the government's railroad agency in planning to build a rail line to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.

The state filed documents today in Washington, DC, asking a federal court to stop the Energy Department from shipping nuclear waste by rail to, and through, Nevada.

...

Blocking the railroad is just one of a series of legal maneuvers Nevada is using to try to derail federal plans to bury the nation's nuclear waste.

The state effort gained traction last week with revelations that a government worker may have fabricated documentation during scientific tests at the site.
http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3125155&nav=8faOXuPE

[MadHound]

38. Exactly, which is why we have to stop creating more of it

We already can't deal with the waste we have. Yucca Mt. is a chimera that has already been proven to leak into the groundwater serving Las Vegas. We need to put a halt to another poorly constructed, poorly supervised waste dump, and put a halt to all nuclear power plants.

[w4rma]

23. Holy moly. Someone actually wants that stuff in their back yard.

Forget about Yucca mountain. This debate should be about whether to store it at the Goshute Indian reservation, instead.

[Jandar]

28. The republicans are making quite a show of opposing this,

their real concern is all that money going to a few natives and not in the state coffers. It makes little difference if the ultimate destination is Yucca Mountain or the reservation, the material will still travel about the same routes either way. Any concerns about the long term risks are disingenuous, most of the people I deal with are convinced that God and or Jesus is en route back to earth. I haven't heard exactly when the spaceship is supposed to land but judging from the exuberance of the locals it must be sooner rather than later. (I ride the bus and the scripture reading has reached a fevered pitch, I'm just glad that warm weather is almost here and I can ride my bike.) Hallelujah!

[seemslikeadream]

29. MEET THE GOSHUTE INDIANS BUSINESS PARTNERS

PFS members are:

Xcel Energy
Genoa Fuel Tech
American Electric Power
Southern California Edison
Southern Nuclear Company
First Energy
Entergy
Florida Power and Light
Each of these companies owns nuclear power plants. Each is exploring various options, including the PFS centralized facility, for storing spent fuel until the federal government has a permanent repository ready.

Utilities that send spent fuel to the PFS facility, including those that are equity members of the consortium, will retain ownership of their own spent fuel while it is stored at the facility. Each fuel owner will be liable for fees to cover the costs of normal operations, any problems that could occur, and eventual decommissioning of the facility.

Because each utility incurs storage costs as long as their spent fuel is stored temporarily, they will continue to put pressure on the federal government to accept fuel at a federal facility as soon as possible



http://www.privatefuelstorage.com/project/partners-pfs.html

[seemslikeadream]

31. Tooele Army Depot 46% of chemical weapons stockpiled waiting incineration

GOSHUTE TRIBE SIGNS LEASE WITH UTILITIES FOR ISFSI
The first proposal for an ISFSI facility in Utah, and probably the most serious contender, was made by the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe in late December, 1996. On December 27, 1996 a consortium of 11 nuclear utilities signed a lease with the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes for a portion of their reservation land on which the consortium would construct a facility for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. The consortium, Minneapolis based Private Fuel Storage, led by Northern States Power (NSP) obtained a lease for 40 acres of tribal land.

The lease is for 25 years, with an option to extend for an additional 25 years. The proposed facility would be for "temporary" storage of the consortium members' spent nuclear fuel. Once the Yucca Mountain Repository is completed all spent fuel stored at the site would be removed and sent to the Nevada repository. The leased site would be used to store up to 2,000 canisters of spent fuel.

The Skull Valley Band has only 121 members. There are only 9 families that live on the 17,700 acre reservation located 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The remainder of the tribe lives off reservation in Utah and surrounding states.


The Skull Valley Reservation sets on the southern border of what is known as the Tooele County Hazardous Industries Zone. Situated on a corridor of I-80, the zone is already the home to; Envirocare, the nation's main low-level nuclear waste dump; two toxic waste incinerators and disposal facilities, APTIS and USPCI; Dugway Proving Ground, and the Tooele Army Depot where 46% of U.S. chemical weapons are stockpiled awaiting incineration; and several smaller concerns.

http://www.downwinders.org/cstory5.html

[seemslikeadream]

32. Orrin Hatch "Please Mr. Rove block the storing of 40,000t of spent rods"

Utah nuclear fuel fight going to White House

Options running out to bar Goshute storage site
By Jerry Spangler
Deseret Morning News

WASHINGTON — With options running out for Utah to block nuclear waste storage on Goshute tribal lands in Tooele County, Utah's two Republican senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, are taking their appeal directly to the White House.

An anti-nuclear waste sign is posted outside Utah's Goshute Reservation in 2002.

Douglas C. Pizac, Associated Press
Hatch and Bennett will meet today with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, himself a former Utahn, to enlist the administration's support in blocking the PFS consortium of nuclear power utilities from storing up to 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods in Utah.
"It is a fair statement to say we are running out of time," said an admittedly nervous Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.
The appeal to the White House is the latest move by the Utah delegation, which has been meeting "continuously" to discuss how to stop PFS now that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, in a split decision, ruled PFS should be granted a license. That decision is expected to be ratified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
There is growing skepticism the delegation has the political muscle to thwart the project and that its legislative options are limited, at best.
"Oh mercy," said Rep. Rob Bishop, the Republican who represents the 1st Congressional District where the PFS storage site is located. "I still believe a legislative option is the best option, and it may be the only one."
Bishop, who admits to a certain level of legislative creativity, insists the fight in Congress is not over, nor has he given up.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600117296,00.html


NOT IN MY BACK YARD :shrug:

DON'T GO THROUGH MY STATE :shrug:

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THIS SHIT? :shrug:

[tlcandie]

42. So, being a tribe of only about 120 members.. they will be extinct soon..

IF they allow this to go ahead... :cry: