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GREEN RIVER, Utah — Opposition to a proposed nuclear power plant on the outskirts of this south central Utah community is heating up, with 10 environmental organizations urging the state water engineer to carefully consider the water resources the plant would demand and the safety risks it would pose.
The groups, which represent Utah and three other Western states, lodged their concern in a letter to state water engineer Kent Jones on Wednesday, asserting the Colorado River system cannot sustain the necessary water for the plant.
"Awarding a massive quantity of water — 53,600 acre feet — to nuclear reactors seems a poor choice given the realities of the already over-subscribed Colorado River system," the letter reads.
Awarding a massive quantity of water -- 53,600 acre feet -- to nuclear reactors seems a poor choice given the realities of the already over-subscribed Colorado River system.
–Letter to the state water engineer
It was signed by groups that include Uranium Watch, the Grand Canyon Trust, the Arizona Wilderness Coalition and distributed by HEAL Utah, a nonprofit anti-nuclear activist group.
Jones has pending change applications for the diversion of water rights held by Kane and San Juan county water conservancy districts in support of the Blue Castle Holdings' nuclear power plant, which would be built in Emery County outside of Green River.
The company's president and chief executive officer, former state Rep. Aaron Tilton, has sought to divert the water from the Green River in support of the two-unit plant that would generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity.
Critics say in light of the Fukushima crisis in Japan after a tsunami and earthquake, public policy makers should question the wisdom of locating a nuclear power plant in an area that could threaten downstream ecosystems and communities.
"If Green River reactors suffered a similar mishap, how far would that dangerous material travel?' the letter asks. "Would it enter the Colorado River? How would it affect the rivers' aquatic life, including endangered fish species?"
While the groups acknowledge the "likelihood of an accident for Green River is small," the letter asks Jones to consider that possibility given the plant's proposed location.
Backed in part by Gov. Gary Hebert's long-term energy plan which calls for nuclear power part as part of the state's energy portfolio, Tilton has said the use of water is sustainable and the plant will be safe, as well as diversify Utah's energy resources.
Email:aodonoghue@ksl.com
