<National Congress

of American Indians

Skull Valley Band of Goshute Sign Initial Agreement for Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility

The Skull Valley Band of Goshute has reached an agreement with a national consortium of eleven nuclear utilities to begin the first phase of a spent nuclear fuel interim storage project on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation. On December 27, 1996, the tribe leased a 40 acre site to Private Fuel Storage, LLC, which plans to build an above ground concrete storage pad facility to house casks of irradiated commercial reactor fuel. The lease allows the consortium to begin preparation for submitting a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for construction and operation of a temporary storage facility. Utility officials expect to submit the application by spring 1997.

According to Skull Valley Goshute Chairman Leon Bear, the lease is for 50 years, 25 years at the outset with a 25 year renewal option. Chairman Bear stated, "A majority of tribal members support the economic development venture and our General Council passed a resolution in favor of the project. Several tribal members absent from that particular General Council session and not signatory to the original document have signed an attachment expressing support for the project."

The idea for this type of facility sprang from a Department of Energy (DOE) mandate under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 which called for the DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to accept spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from nuclear utilities by January 1998 and transport the waste to a permanent repository. Until amended in 1987, one section of the law provided for states and tribes to become host of a temporary facility, or Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility until completion of a permanent disposal facility. Approximately 15 tribal governments including the Skull Valley Goshute were involved in discussions with the DOE as potential MRS hosts. Chairman Bear stated that during the previous MRS endeavor several tribal delegations visited federal and private installations, nationally and internationally, involved in research and development of nuclear waste management technologies. He also said their previous endeavor provided tribal members with complete data on both sides of this issue

The Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation about 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and adjacent to Dugway Proving Grounds, a U.S. Army laboratory which tests biological and nerve agents. The tribe recently successfully negotiated a contract with the Army to conduct the first phase of a cleanup and mitigation project of a sheep burial site on the reservation. The sheep were killed by an accidental highly toxic nerve gas release at this west desert location and buried on tribal lands. According to tribal officials, the mitigation project may serve as a national model.

The interim storage facility licensing process, which will include environmental impact studies and a public participation component, may take up to 3 years to complete. Though financial terms of the project have yet to be resolved, the economic value is based upon the current and future market for spent fuel storage. Last year, the Mescalero Apache Tribe came to the brink of reaching an agreement with a different utility group for a similar project but the project was canceled. According to tribal officials, the Mescalero Tribe has not abandoned the proposal and have in fact met with other nuclear utility representatives.

Utah officials have expressed their opposition to the Skull Valley Goshute nuclear waste facility proposal. State officials are raising arguments about Utah becoming a dumping ground and that the state is doing more than its share in storing hazardous waste. The state of Utah recently approved siting of Envirocare, a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Prior to developing ths and other hazardous storage and defense-related facilities the state did not consult with any neighboring Indian nations on the impact to the indigenous cultures. The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported that an internal memo from the Utah Division of Environmental Health concluded that the former radiation control director did not objectively review the development and approval of the Envirocare project.

For further information, contact the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Tribe at 801/363-7726.