NRC Dismisses Utah Appeal, Authorizes Licensing of PFS Facility

For the past several months, we've been following the efforts of Private Fuel Storage (PFS) to open a private used fuel facility in Utah on the Reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians, about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

The facility is important, because many utilities are seeking an interim storage solution for used nuclear fuel as they begin to run out of storage space in their spent fuel pools.

Today, the project moved closer to reality. The following was just released by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today denied the state of Utah'’s final appeals in the adjudication on an application by Private Fuel Storage to construct and operate an independent spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Skull Valley, Utah, and by a 3-1 vote authorized the NRC staff to issue PFS a license once the staff has made the requisite findings under NRC regulations.

Utah petitioned for Commission review of a Feb. 24 decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which rejected the state's assertions that there is too high a probability of a radiation release resulting from an accidental crash of one of 7,000 flights over the Skull Valley each year by F-16 single-engine jets from Hill Air Force Base.

The Commission's memorandum and order also dismisses as moot petitions by PFS and the NRC staff for review of portions of an earlier ASLB ruling.

"“Our decision today concludes this protracted adjudication, which has generated more than 40 published Board decisions and more than 30 published Commission decisions," the Commission said in its memorandum and order. "The adjudicatory effort, plus our staff's separate safety and environmental reviews, gives us reasonable assurance that PFS's proposed [storage facility] can be constructed and operated safely," it said.

"“There are no remaining adjudication issues to resolve. Accordingly, once it has made the requisite findings pursuant to 10 CFR 72.40, the staff is authorized to issue PFS a license to construct and operate its proposed [facility]."”

Back in Utah, the decision wasn't unexpected:

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, conceded Wednesday that a ruling against the state is probable.

"They just want to get it off their hands, and that's always been the case," Hatch said.

Sen. Bob Bennett said the storage site would still face many obstacles.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they vote to license the facility, but as I said all along, licensing the facility doesn't mean it's going to get built," he said.

For a list detailing when American nuclear power plants will run out of space in their fuel storage pools, click here. More later.

UPDATE: Here's an account from the Las Vegas Sun, which quotes several anti-Yucca Mountain activists as saying the decision is a blow to their effort to prevent the opening of the facility.

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