Though not a final decision, the Energy Department's "preferred alternative" would mean an investment of an estimated $400 million and up to 10 years to clean up and move a 130-acre pile of radioactive soil left from a Cold War-era uranium mine. The pile has been idly sitting near the river that flows downstream through four states and into Mexico. Besides transporting the tailings to Crescent Junction, 30 miles north from the Moab area, the Energy Department also said it intends to purge the area's groundwater of contaminants.

Utah leaders, environmentalists and residents called the decision a triumph for everyone.

"It's a very good decision," said Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., "not only a good decision for the state of Utah, but for the 25 million to 30 million people who rely on this source of water downstream."

The Energy Department is still weighing comment before putting its decision in a final environmental impact statement. A final decision will be released after the EIS is complete.

The Energy Department previously had taken an unusual step of not identifying any preference on what to do with the tailings, which have drawn angst from politicians and residents for more than a decade. Wednesday's decision came after increased pressure from Huntsman and others, including Utah's Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, who collected 21 signatures of Western legislators to support moving the tailings.

Matheson called the announcement a "significant step" and vowed to follow through to make sure the move happens.

"Sometimes in this job you get good news, and this is one of those days," he said from Washington.

Don Metzler, Energy Department project manager for the Moab site, said he expects congressional funding for the project will be forthcoming. He also said the Crescent Junction site is perfectly suited for storing the radioactive material.

A railroad spur is in place, making transportation from Moab easier. The proposed site also is situated on top of 2,500 feet of Mancos shale - impermeable rock that will block toxic materials from entering the aquifer. The site would be covered with a rock cap.

Huntsman says he hopes the federal government will pay the entire price tag.

"Although I haven't been given definitive assurances, I have been given some assurances that the federal government will shoulder the bulk of the cost, if not all of it," the governor said.

Wednesday's announcement brought cheers from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves 18 million residents and gets a quarter of its water from the Colorado River.

Wes Bannister, chairman of the board, said the district will be happier when the Energy Department follows through and makes this a final decision.

"If we lose a fourth of our water, we're in trouble," Bannister said. "We would be in serious trouble. It's critical, in our point of view," that the proposal goes through.

The now tourist-driven Moab was once called the "uranium capital of the world" after a miner found a vein of uraninite nearby in 1952. Fueled by the nuclear arms race, the mine operated until 1984, producing $130 million worth of bomb and nuclear energy material. But the mine went bankrupt and left 12 million tons of hazardous and radioactive tailings behind.

The Energy Department took ownership of the tailings in the late 1990s. Environmental groups that have pushed to move the tailings for more than a decade heralded the decision.

"This shows what can happen hrough collaboration," said Franklin Seal, a grass-roots organizer for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

State officials had pushed to rid the Colorado's banks of the tailings, and that effort was boosted by recent flooding in Utah's southwestern corner that wiped out floodplains dotted with homes. The officials and others argued a similar flood on the Colorado could have endangered drinking water for tens of millions.

"It was only a matter of time before the pile would have been undercut by the river if it stayed in place," said Dianne Nielson, head of the state's Department of Environmental Quality. "Moving the tailings to Crescent Junction provided the most cost-effective and safe alternative."

U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said he is committed to securing federal funds for moving the tailings.

"I have always believed that the best action, given the science, was to move the Atlas tailings pile," Bennett said in a statement.

Envirocare of Utah, the low-level radioactive waste company in Tooele County, says it would like to be a player in managing disposal of the tailings.

''We felt this was the right decision from the beginning,'' said Envirocare spokesman Mark Walker. ''We would like to present a plan covering how to move them [to Crescent Junction], where to store them and how to make them safe so they're never a problem again.''

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