In the past few days, three Idaho governors - former Govs. Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt and current Gov. Butch Otter - have published guest opinions in the Idaho Statesman newspaper with strongly worded messages about potential changes in the nuclear waste agreement Batt famously negotiated with the feds, guaranteeing that Idaho won't become the nation's future nuke waste repository. Today, Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker sorts through the charges; you can read his full report here. The upshot: Both Andrus and Batt are urging Otter to stick with the 1995 agreement, and despite possible changes outlined by current INL Director John Grossenbacher, Otter is pledging that he will.
  

A recent agreement with the federal government could put Idaho at the forefront of a “resurgence” in nuclear reactor research, Gov. Butch Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said today. In a joint guest opinion, Otter and Wasden defend a decision that allows the Department of Energy to ship limited quantities of used nuclear reactor fuel to Idaho for research. They say the deal, announced Jan. 6, does not compromise a 1995 nuclear waste cleanup agreement forged by former Gov. Phil Batt/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Does this send a message that Idaho has changed its mind re: being a repository for nuclear waste?

An inspector general’s audit says the U.S. Department of Energy wasted $25 million because it didn’t ship certain radioactive wastes from Hanford, Wash. to Idaho for processing, in part because Hanford workers protested that the move would shift jobs to Idaho; Tri-City Herald reporter Annette Cary reports that the Idaho National Laboratory has equipment to compact the waste that Hanford lacked./Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise

An inspector general’s audit says the U.S. Department of Energy is spending an extra $25 million because it didn’t ship certain radioactive wastes from Hanford to Idaho for processing, in part because Hanford workers protested that the move would shift jobs to Idaho; click below to read the full story from reporter Annette Cary of the Tri-City Herald.