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HomeMy WebLinkAbout29-Public Comments Handout Tuesday, February 24, 2004 (02-24) 19:08 PST WASHINGTON (AP) - Appeals court rejects Utah argument, says NRC can license private nuclear dump ROBERT GEHRKE, Associated Press Writer A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected Utah's efforts to stop a private high-level nuclear waste dump, saying federal regulators have the legal authority to permit such a facility. Attorneys for the state and members of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes opposed to the proposed temporary waste dump had argued that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not have the authority to grant a license to Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of electric utilities seeking to build the storage site. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed. The three-judge panel wrote that nothing in congressional reports and debates on the law in question suggested that Congress meant to prohibit private storage of nuclear reactor fuel away from the reactor site. "We're disappointed," said Assistant Utah Attorney General Denise Chancellor. "If the D.C. Circuit had ruled in our favor, it certainly would not have enabled PFS to get a license. " PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin said the ruling is significant because the issue of whether NRC can license the off site storage has been a "core argument" presented by the state since the beginning of the licensing process. "PFS has maintained all along that the NRC has the authority, the NRC staff has said the same thing all along. So hopefully this will put the issue to rest," she said. Private Fuel Storage proposes storing 40,000 metric tons of reactor waste in steel casks in Utah's west desert until a permanent waste dump is built at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The facility would be built on the Goshutes' Skull Valley reservation, limiting state regulators' ability to block the dump. Several members of the tiny tribe oppose the site and have formed a group -- OOOgo Gaudadeh Devia -- to fight the plan. The court's ruling may also affect the outcome of a separate case pending before the 10th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In that case, Utah is appealing a U.S. District Court judge's ruling that a package oflaws passed by the Utah Legislature to block the waste dump are unconstitutional. Attorneys for the state argued that Private Fuel Storage should not have been able to challenge the Utah laws because it is not entitled under federal law to the license it is seeking -- the same argument the D.C. Circuit rejected. If the state loses the 10th. Circuit appeal, it will be left staking its hopes on proving there is an unacceptable risk that a plane or missile could stray from the nearby Air Force test and training range and strike the site, releasing radiation. A year ago, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board said the risk of a plane crash was too great of a risk, but it has agreed to hear further argument on that issue late this summer. The state is also arguing to the NRC that the benefits of the facility have been overestimated and whether the PFS inspection regimen is adequate. The NRC rejected a series of safety, environmental and financial arguments earlier this month. ! .