Decade
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Shundahai is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony with all Creation"
June 27, 2006
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Nuclear Dump Glance
Information about a proposed nuclear waste storage facility on an American Indian reservation in Utah:
WHAT: The facility would keep 44,000 tons of used commercial reactor fuel for up to 40 years in steel and cement canisters on the Goshute reservation in Skull Valley, Utah.
WHO: Private Fuel Storage LLC, a Wisconsin-based consortium of eight utilities, and the Goshutes signed a 20-year renewable lease, pending final approval of necessary permits. None of the utilities has committed to sending waste, but the group says it expects to have customers. Details of the lease and payments to the tribe have not been made public.
PFS MEMBERS: Xcel Energy Inc., American Electric Power, Southern California Edison, Southern Nuclear Company, First Energy Corp., Entergy Corp., Florida Power and Light Co., and Genoa Fuel Tech (a subsidiary of Dairyland Power Cooperative in Wisconsin).
STATUS: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license for the waste site in February. Approval by the Interior Department of an access route through federal land and final lease certification by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are pending.
OPPOSITION: The state of Utah is challenging the NRC's license approval in federal court in Washington. The state's suit claims the commission failed to adequately take into account risks from military jet overflights in the area. Utah officials also are lobbying the Bush administration to block the project.
TRIBAL STRIFE: The issue has split the small Skull Valley Band. Opponents of the dump are challenging tribal chief Leon Bear, the primary force behind the project. Bear says the project will provide millions of dollars in economic benefits to the tribe. Opponents, led by Margene Bullcreek, says the dump violates tribal tradition and accuses Private Fuel Storage of "environmental racism."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Nuclear_Dump_Glance.html
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