"Ex-Idaho Governor Sues U.S. To Force Disclosure of Nuclear Waste Plan"

"SALMON, Idaho -- A former Idaho governor sued the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday seeking information he said the agency was concealing about a proposal to ship nuclear waste into the state in violation of a 20-year-old federal agreement.

The case puts Cecil Andrus, a Democrat who served four terms as governor, at odds with Idaho's current Republican leaders, including Governor C.L. 'Butch' Otter, over a plan to transport spent fuel from out-of-state commercial nuclear reactors to the Idaho National Laboratory.

Andrus said he suspected the agency's intent was ultimately to turn the sprawling nuclear research facility along the Snake River near Idaho falls into a de facto nuclear dump in the absence of a permanent repository for high-level radioactive waste elsewhere in the United States."

Laura Zuckerman reports for Reuters September 29, 2015.