Utah gov: 2 trains of SC waste won't come to Utah

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says two trainloads of depleted uranium from South Carolina won't be coming to Utah as originally planned.

Herbert said in a statement Monday that he's reached an oral agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to keep the Savannah River Site waste from being disposed at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility in Utah's west desert.

Depleted uranium is different from other low-level radioactive waste disposed of in Utah because it becomes hotter over time, for up to 1 million years.

State regulators and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are currently developing new guidelines for how the material should be safely disposed of.

An Energy Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press on Monday.