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Show Goshute T H E G O S H U T E S 6 1 W E S H A L L R E M A I N : U TA H I N D I A N C U R R I C U L U M G U I D E DEBATE : SHOULD THE GOSHUTES BUILD A TEMPORARY NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE SITE ON THE SKULL VA LLEY RESERVATION ? YES: FORREST CUCH DE: Can you give an example of [a political issue] that doesn't get closely examined? FC: Well the nuclear issue, nuclear energy. We've gone the spectrum of slapping down the Skull Valley Goshutes but now we're entertaining these building studies to construct seven-possibly seven nuclear plants here in Utah. So that to me is, it's not only hypocrisy, it's outrageous. It's-to me it reflects people who lack information. They're too quick to judge and they don't examine issues. It also suggests that people jump to conclusions here. Just because you store nuclear spent [fuel] rods, does not mean you have to jump into the nuclear industry or vice-versa. I was essentially opposed to the concept of storing nuclear spent rods until I heard the testimony of numerous sci-entists from the University of Utah in particular. And most of their presentations indicated that it could actually be stored safely, to which I come to see that that was a wonderful business opportu-nity for Skull Valley Goshutes. It didn't mean an endorsement of the nuclear industry whatsoever, in my view, but some people took it that way. So I had to stay-Working for the governor, I had to stay neutral on the issue. But in the end I simply did not think that it was damaging to the earth especially due to the fact that nuclear energy is a reality of most communities east of the Missis-sippi [River]. And this was information that most people weren't exposed to prior to this time. I heard complaints about the fact that Skull Valley Reservation was so close to Salt Lake City [Utah]. And they kept saying "Oh it's only 35-40 miles" and that was a lie. I went and checked it myself. It's over 65 miles to Skull Valley from Salt Lake City [Utah] and that's from, well, like the airport. You get out to the airport and from there on it's about 60 miles. So it's-people were really unfair and the information that was exchanged about that. I happened to live in Massachusetts for six or seven years and I happened to know that there's a reactor that is within a short distance from the metropolis of Boston, and that's the Seabrook reactor. And that's not very far. I mean that's within twenty miles, 15-20 miles I believe, I'm not sure. But it's certainly much much closer than Skull Valley. And that was spent rods; that's not a reactor. You know what I'm saying. I mean to me there was an overreaction on the part of- Utah is-what really bothers me is it really has a "the sky is falling," you know, reaction to things. It's like a reaction to many-so many things. And that's because they lack so much information about things and have leaders who are overzeal-ous in their reactions. . . . So I've seen this state turn around from one of slapping down the [Skull Valley] Goshutes for even considering the idea. "How dare you in our own backyard?" And then turn around and entertain the possibilities for even more exposure to dangerous levels of atom-ic energy and waste. So especially considering the fact that we have a socially acceptable orga-nization, Energy Solutions, that keeps wanting to raise the level of waste from hazardous to nearly nuclear. And it's such a hypocrisy to me. I think that's what stands out the most about the Skull Valley situation there. And so my education and my experience was directly contrary to what Gov-ernor Levitt and what everyone else was saying. I just kept shaking my head saying, "Don't they un-derstand there's another world out there? That France has been operating on nuclear energy for decades and they have been able to store it safely. Don't they know that most of the communities east of the Mississippi rely and most products are manufactured using nuclear energy?" I mean, wake up. You know, I was always told you need to gather the facts and no one was gathering the facts at that time. |