Court Rules in Favor of Utah on Skull Valley Nuke Waste Plan

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dealt another blow to a proposal to store spent nuclear fuel rods above ground in Skull Valley. The State of Utah went to the nation's highest court of appeals challenging the license granted to Private Fuel Storage for nuclear waste storage in the West Desert. Since then, the federal Bureau of Land Management denied transportation access for the project. As a result, the court refused to even hear Utah's appeal. Which is good news, according to Assistant Utah Attorney General Denise Chancellor:

"It's a pronouncement by the court saying 'This is so speculative that we don't even think that we should hear it,'" says Chancellor.

Utah officials herald the ruling as another "nail in the coffin" for PFS. However, PFS spokesperson Sue Martin says the company is not dropping its plans for the facility:

"The fact is that we have a license, which is a huge step in the direction of having a viable facility," says Martin. "It took us nine years to get that license and the license is there when the market is ready and we need it."

Martin says PFS will appeal the decision by the Bureau of Land Management denying the company permission to transport the waste across federal lands. Since the outcome of that ruling is impossible to predict, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opted not to "devote judicial resources" to hearing Utah's appeal.

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