He argues that remains the best bet to keep nuclear waste out of Utah's Skull Valley.

"The future of Skull Valley is largely in the hands of the administration right now, so I don't believe kicking them in the teeth is in our best interest," Hatch said Wednesday. "It's the only real hope I see right now, because [Nevada Sen.] Harry Reid can't help us."

Hatch's comments cemented his position a day after Utah Sen. Bob Bennett said that he erred in backing the White House push to bury the waste beneath Yucca Mountain in Nevada and endorsed Reid's proposal to leave the nuclear material at the reactors that produced it.

Reid's plan, if it succeeds, would block a nuclear dump in Nevada and an effort by Private Fuel Storage to build a temporary storage site on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation, 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

Hatch plans to introduce a bill today that would declare a moratorium on shipping nuclear waste to private storage sites such as Skull Valley. But it would leave open the door to Yucca Mountain.

Efforts to store 77,000 tons of nuclear waste beneath Yucca Mountain are mired in legal and regulatory challenges and are years behind schedule. Until Yucca is built, PFS proposes storing 44,000 tons of waste above ground in steel casks on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation.

In 2002, Hatch and Bennett voted with the Bush administration to build Yucca Mountain after meeting with White House officials and being given assurances the federal government would not reimburse PFS for costs associated with its project. PFS, however, said it never planned to seek any such compensation.

Members of Utah's delegation have said Reid was angered by the vote and has opposed Utah's efforts to block the PFS site out of spite for the Utah senators.

"I do not feel good about Yucca Mountain, either," Hatch said, "but anybody who doesn't think Bob [Bennett] and I should've voted for Yucca Mountain just doesn't know the facts because we would have become the sole target here."

Bennett said Tuesday that his vote for Yucca Mountain was based on good intentions, but that he made a mistake and he now believes the waste dump will never be built. He endorsed Reid's plan to keep the used nuclear fuel at reactors and reprocess it.

Bennett joined a growing chorus of Utahns, including Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Rep. Rob Bishop and Rep. Jim Matheson, who have embraced Reid's proposal. Rep. Chris Cannon also has warmed to the idea.

"I'm not going to second-guess my colleagues, but one of us has to stay neutral on this and hopefully give the administration enough ammunition to resolve this process," Hatch said.

Indeed, the Bush administration could intervene at several points to stop the PFS site: by vetoing a lease agreement between PFS and the tribe; by refusing to grant a right-of-way for a rail line to the site; or through Energy Department or Homeland Security actions.

"Our only chance of getting rid of this is with the administration. It isn't with the Senate. It isn't with Harry," Hatch said.