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Congressional ban could thwart Italian waste deal
Mar 18, 2008 | 394 views | 0 
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U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, joined fellow House Energy and Commerce Committee members Reps. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., and Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., in sponsoring legislation that would ban the import of nuclear waste unless it was originally produced in the United States, with U.S. military waste generated abroad standing as an exception.
Matheson said he did not want to see Utah or the rest of the country become a "dumping ground" for the world's waste.
Since November, EnergySolutions officials have said they want to import about 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste produced in Italy for processing in Bear Creek, Tenn., and that less than 1,600 tons of waste left over after processing would be shipped for storage at Clive.
Vanessa Pierce, director for HEAL Utah (Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah), said her group fully supports the proposed bill.
"We like that the bill recognizes it's not right for a private company to profit by bringing the world's nuclear waste problems to the U.S.," said Pierce.
EnergySolutions opposes the bill on the grounds that the decision to accept foreign waste should be left to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The company issued a statement Thursday that read: "We believe that Congressman Gordon's legislation stripping the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its jurisdiction over an issue within its purview is unwise, unwarranted and unnecessary. The NRC has the scientific and technical expertise to make thoughtful decisions based on facts."
The Utah Radiation Control Board, another critic of accepting foreign nuclear waste, recently approved a letter to the NRC requesting that EnergySolutions' application be denied.
The NRC will be accepting public comments on EnergySolutions' application until June 10.
Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com
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