nuclear-news

Appeal against Utah nuclear reactor being granted water rights

Enviro Groups Challenge Nuke Plant Water Rights, City Weekly, by Sarah Kramer, 16 Feb 12,   The path to a commercial nuclear reactor in Utah has met an unexpected roadblock in the form of an appeal of State Engineer Kent Jones’ Jan. 20 decision granting water rights to Blue Castle Holdings for the project.-

The appeal, announced Feb. 9, was filed by environmental-advocacy and nuclear-watchdog group HEAL Utah along with over 20 other groups. The decision to file a request for reconsideration was the direct result of another blow to theBlue Castle Project: The revelation that LeadDog Capital, LLC, the hedge fund that had offered to put up $30 million to fund the project, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for falsely inflating the company’s assets and concealing from investors potential conflicts of interest. A second request was also filed by Moab-based environmental groups..

… The State Engineer cannot approve water-rights applications for speculative projects. …. The requests for reconsideration also challenge the State Engineer’s assertions that the Green River’s flow is able to support the diversion of 53,600 acre-feet for the Blue Castle Project, and call into question Blue Castle’s ability to bring the plant to fruition with no prior experience in the nuclear-energy industry. http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-9594-7120-enviro-groups-challenge-nuke-plant-water-rights.html

February 16, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water