Goshute N-waste site on track as panel gives OK to rail line

A proposed nuclear waste storage site on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah's western desert is on a short track.

An administrative panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday partially cleared the way for Private Fuel Storage to construct a rail line that would deliver spent nuclear fuel some 26 miles down the west side of Skull Valley, along the Cedar Mountains.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled against a Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance challenge that the rail line runs afoul of wilderness quality lands bordering the Goshute tribal lands.

"We recognize that SUWA has worked diligently to preserve such values elsewhere in the state, but we must say that those values are neither apparent nor affected here," the three-judge panel wrote in a 61-page decision.

Private Fuel Storage is a consortium of nuclear-powered utilities seeking to store up to 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in above-ground canisters on Goshute tribal lands, 75 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The consortium made a deal with Goshute tribal leaders in 1997 to lease 820 acres of the reservation to temporarily store the nuclear waste until a permanent storage facility opens up in Yucca Mountain, Nev.

Wednesday's ruling wraps up one of the last remaining issues the state and SUWA raised to put the brakes on nuclear waste ending up in Utah. The board still has to consider Private Fuel Storage's appeal of a March 10 ruling — a temporary victory for the state — on the issue of Air Force overflights in the western desert and the risks of jet crashes into the facility.

The NRC then makes a final decision.

The latest round of rulings came as a blow to the state, which has fought the plan every step of the way.

"Obviously we are disappointed with the decision," said Dianne Nielson, executive director of Utah Department of Environmental Quality. "We think those were legitimate concerns and we had hoped the board would take them into consideration, but it's not the first time that's happened. We'll just consider what our next steps are and what's appropriate."

SUWA officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

But proponents rejoiced at the decision.

"We are pleased," said Sue Martin, spokeswoman for PFS. "We felt that we had looked at all reasonable alternatives to the site. At the very beginning when we started the process we were looking at either taking the shipments via Skull Valley Road by heavy truck or building a rail line along the Skull Valley Road. We had a lot of input on that from residents of Skull Valley and also the county, and that prompted us to look at other alternatives that would be safer."

Comments