Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
NRC rejects Utah's argument
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY-- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected another of Utah's arguments against licensing a nuclear waste storage area on the Goshutes' Skull Valley Indian reservation 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
The argument turned down on Monday was that the storage, while billed as only temporary until a permanent repository is built elsewhere, could end up being permanent.
The state still is pursuing an argument that the possibility of a fighter jet crash at the site was too great a risk.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s general counsel, Mike Lee, told The Salt Lake Tribune that he expects the NRC's final determination by the end of the summer.
"We're profoundly disappointed, but we remain optimistic about our other arguments, including the remaining argument before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Lee said.
"We're still several steps away from any point we would deem even the beginning of construction on the project to be imminent," he said.
