News Release 9/09/05
Contact:
Sue Martin 801-532-5322 or 801-209-3062
Private Fuel Storage Wins Approval from Nuclear Regulatory Commission
SALT LAKE CITY (Sept. 9, 2005) - The Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted today to deny the state of Utah’s petition for review of Commission and Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) rulings, which found that cruise missile testing and accidental crashes of military aircraft do not pose credible hazards to the proposed Private Fuel Storage (PFS) facility in Utah on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation in Tooele County, UT. Those were the last outstanding issues before the Commission concerning the state and intervenor challenges to the proposed facility. The Commission’s decision today allows the license now to be issued for the project.
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is a three-judge panel named by the NRC to hold hearings and rule on contentions related to PFS’s application for a license to build and operate a temporary storage facility. In a February, 2005 decision, the Board ruled that the robust concrete and steel storage casks that will hold spent fuel rods could withstand a hypothetical military airplane crash without releasing radioactivity into the environment. The Board’s ruling came after more than three weeks of hearings in 2004, during which the state and PFS provided expert testimony and other evidence supporting their positions. In May 2005, the Board reaffirmed its decision following complete briefing and argument on a motion by Utah requesting Board reconsideration of its February 2005 ruling.
The Board had previously ruled on cruise missile testing and the many other issues raised by the state and other intervenors after numerous extensive pleadings and approximately nine weeks of evidentiary hearings (held in the summers of 2000 and 2002). Prior to today’s decision, the Commission had previously considered and rejected intervenor appeals of Board rulings dismissing their contentions, other than the state’s contention concerning aircraft crashes and cruise missile testing that was the subject of today’s Commission decision.
"We are pleased that the Commissioners have made a final decision on these issues and authorized a license" said John Parkyn, PFS Chairman and CEO. "We can now move forward to meet the needs of the commercial nuclear industry and help protect the electricity supply in our nation."
Once a license is granted, PFS will market its facility to commercial nuclear operators and begin a two-year construction program. PFS will also work with the railroad industry and appropriate state officials to coordinate detailed transportation plans. The earliest the facility is expected to be in operation would be 2008.
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