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WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch says he would be "elated" if the Bush administration decided to keep nuclear waste at the reactors that produced it.

In an interview Monday, the Utah Republican said he believes storing spent fuel rods at the reactors until they can be reprocessed is the best solution to the nation's nuclear waste problem. But he added that political realities dictate that he remain a supporter of burying the waste inside Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the best bet for keeping it out of Utah.

Hatch's nuanced stance reflects the growing support from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., the state's congressional delegation, and other state officials arguing that storage at the reactors is the best way to block a proposal by Private Fuel Storage (PFS) to temporarily store 44,000 tons of waste on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

Hatch claimed he always has believed on-site storage at the nation's nuclear power plants was the preferred alternative, but his public statements have repeatedly cast it as a Yucca-or-Skull Valley proposition.

After meeting with top White House officials last month, Hatch said he would do all he could to make Yucca Mountain a reality. And in 2002 he called Yucca "the only choice" that would keep nuclear waste out of Utah.

Hatch said Monday he has never wavered in his objective to protect his home state.

"The question is what do you do and what do you support to make sure it stays out of Utah?" Hatch says. "Right now, it's Yucca. But I wouldn't be a bit disappointed, in fact I'd be elated, if the NRC and the administration decide to keep it where it is and reprocess it."

Hatch did not endorse a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that would enable the government to take control of the waste and store it near the reactors that produced it, although he said he is looking for legislative solutions that will keep nuclear waste out of the state.

"Senator Hatch should let his ties to the nuclear industry sink with the Yucca ship and take the life-jacket that Senator Reid has offered," said Vanessa Pierce of the group HEAL Utah. "Reid's legislation actually stands a chance of keeping nuclear waste out of Utah, whereas Hatch's strategy guarantees nuclear waste will travel though Utah, and will likely get stuck here."

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, a member of the subcommittee who voted to build the Yucca Mountain dump three years ago, said that decision should be reconsidered.

"A lot of things have changed over the last few years and I think we need to be considering that within the context of our goal, which is not to have PFS in Utah," he said.

Hatch said, "I don't feel good about Yucca, either. I've never felt good about it. Its never fun for us to vote" against your neighboring senators, he said. "But had we not voted for that, I guarantee that it would be coming to Utah."

Last week, Sen. Bob Bennett said he could reconsider his support for Yucca Mountain if there were a practical alternative.

Hatch said he and Bennett are on the same page on the waste issue, with the ultimate goal of doing what is necessary to keep it out of Utah.

Before their vote for Yucca Mountain in 2002, Hatch and Bennett received a commitment from six of the eight PFS partners that the Goshute plan wouldn't move forward so long as Yucca Mountain is built in a timely matter.

PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin said Monday it is up to each of the individual partners in the consortium to determine whether they would need the Goshute storage site. "Everyone hopes that Yucca Mountain will be the answer and we'll be able to proceed," she said, "but everyone is also looking at PFS as a possibility down the road if and when they need it."