(AP File Photo |Thomas Herbert) In this file photo from March 26, 1999, the first load of nuclear waste arrives at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M., from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Twenty years and more than 12,380 shipments later, tons of Cold War-era waste from decades of bomb-making and nuclear research across the U.S. have been stashed in the salt caverns that make up the underground facility.
Leia Larsen is a sixth generation Utahn and a water and land use reporter reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune. She has covered environment, energy and political issues throughout the West. When she’s not chasing the news, Leia can be found exploring the Wasatch Mountains, sleeping in the desert or rooting around her garden.