We need a little more Andre the Giant to go with our Dread Pirate Roberts in Utah’s clean air, energy, water, and land effort.

I guess I learned everything I needed to know about energy policy from watching The Princess Bride.

As Andre the Giant loses consciousness at Roberts’ hands he gasps an excuse: “I’ve been specializing in large groups.”

So last night the lawyers hired by EnergySolutions squared off against the Radiation Control Board and the public.

While it remains to be seen whether Utah will be protected from EnergySolutions' appetite for waste, the board's action is encouraging.

Want to catch up on how it went down?

First visit our twitter page to review the minute by minute updates posted live from the meeting (if you don't follow us on twitter now is a good time to fix that).

Harry Potter can talk to snakes.

Remember when one of those crazy wizards shoots a snake out of his wand and Harry talks to it and the snake almost bites someone, and everyone freaks out at Harry?

I learned my first lesson about talking to snakes when I was in high school attending early-morning seminary with all thirteen of the other Mormons my age. They showed us a movie about a boy and a talking snake.

The story went something like this:

 Some issues are partisan, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is not.

This treaty will ban nuclear explosions – anywhere in the world. It will lock in United States nuclear superiority, assure that other countries do not develop nuclear weapons, create a framework for comprehensive arms control, and assure that the United States never exposes its citizens to fallout from THEIR OWN BOMBS!

Tuesday night the RCB (Radiation Control Board) had a revelation.

They realized that the ‘C’ is for CONTROL and promptly took control of EnergySolutions.

This is new territory for the board.

The board decided in a 7-1 vote to require EnergySolutions to scientifically demonstrate that their site is suitable for depleted uranium disposal before they toss it in their west-desert dump.

Me. This post is about me and how I feel and why I feel that way.

Disappointed.

Embarrassed.

Betrayed.

I, like many of you, heard that Governor Herbert doesn’t want foreign waste to come into Utah. I naively thought that he had some intention of actually doing something about it.

After a week of meetings with regulatory boards, listening to the NRC statements which were confusing at best and possibly disingenuous, I think I understand what is going on.

Nuclear Power is the Department of Energy’s Michael Vick and depleted uranium is Nuclear Power’s dog fighting ring. But in this analogy the DOE(Atlanta falcons) and the NRC (The police) both want Vick back in the game ASAP.

 The official record will record a flurry of Radiation Control Board actions in the summer of 2009.

Another one of EnergySolutions’ trucking companies is in the news. This time it’s not leaking radioactive and toxic liquids in Carbon County.