Skip to main content

THE ROLE OF INDIAN TRIBES IN AMERICA’S NUCLEAR FUTURE

Indian tribes have voiced their tribal issues in the United States‘ nuclear effort since its
inception, with the siting of what would become Los Alamos National Laboratory adjacent to the
San Ildefonso Pueblo Reservation and the Hanford plutonium production works along waterways
shared with the Yakama Nation and other Indian tribes. The siting of a proposed repository at
Yucca Mountain, Nevada along with other activities conducted on the Nevada National Security
Site (NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site), increased the need for the United States

Community

Nuclear Waste and Native America: The MRS Siting Exercise

The U.S. government’s quest to store high-level nuclear waste has
had many interesting twists and turns. One set of developments stands
out as unique — efforts to site a temporary Monitored Retrievable
Storage (MRS) facility on lands belonging to Native Americans. We
describe the history and logic of the government’s process which led to
the involvement of Native Americans and the reactions of some tribes
to the MRS option. We also provide cross-cultural perspectives on issues

Private Fuel Storage Facility Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

In accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 72, Private Fuel Storage L.L.C. hereby applies for a specific license to receive, transfer and possess power reactor spent fuel and other radioactive material associated with spent fuel storage in an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) to be constructed and operated on the Skull Valley Indian Reservation in Tooele County, Utah. The license is requested for the storage of spent fuel discharged from licensed U.S. nuclear power reactors in dry storage systems designed by Holtec, International and Sierra Nuclear Corporation.