nuclear-news

Westerners seek stronger voice on N-waste  BY JUDY FAHYS, The Salt Lake Tribune, Sep 13 2011, DENVER • Westerners on Tuesday told the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future that any new plans for dealing with the nation’s nuclear waste must include a stronger voice for state governments…..

Co-chaired by Utah native Brent Scowcroft, the panel has been assigned by President Barack Obama to suggest ways to solve the nation’s nuclear waste disposal backlog. There is more than 67,000 tons of high-level waste for which there is no disposal, and more piles up every year.

Prospects for a quick solution evaporated when the Obama administration put plans on hold for Nevada’s Yucca Mountain repository for about 77,000 tons of waste from commercial reactors and the military. Given the two decades of costs and infighting prompted by the Yucca Mountain site, the new commission is advocating a new approach that is “adaptive, staged, consent-based, transparent, and standards- and science-based.”

A key commission recommendation that has captured the attention of Utahns would have the federal government establish one or more interim storage sites for waste while new, permanent sites are developed.

The idea is just like the proposal by the Skull Valley band, developed in partnership with a consortium of nuclear utility companies. The partners secured a license five years ago from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a kind of long-term parking lot in Tooele County for up to 44,000 tons of nuclear waste from reactors.

Opposition from Utah political leaders has derailed that project since a few months after the license was approved, but it remains the only consolidated storage site with a license….

“We are in reception mode,” said commission member Allison Macfarlane in opening comments.

Bullcreek, a Skull Valley band member who opposes the nuclear waste storage project, commented that tribes also ought to have a bigger say in transportation over reservation lands. Skull Valley Chairwoman Lori Bear and Tribal Secretary Kristen Bear also attended the morning sessions but indicated they would not be participating in the meeting.

The commission’s report can be viewed at brc.gov.

The panel’s final report is expected in January.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52574724-78/waste-commission-nuclear-skull.html.csp