Friday, April 17, 2009
A uranium isotope is a uranium isotope, regardless of its country of origin. But for two Democratic congressmen, there’s a problem with low-level nuclear waste from Italy being dumped in Utah, even though plenty of radioactive refuse has already been deposited there from U.S. sources. The controversy first arose when Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions sought a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy’s defunct nuclear power program. After processing in Tennessee, 1,600 tons would be left to be buried in Clive, Utah.
The NRC informed Reps. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Bart Gordon (D-TN) on Monday that it doesn’t have the authority to prevent foreign radioactive waste from being imported into the United States. As long as the material can be imported safely and someone is willing to accept it, the commission’s hands are tied. Since the NRC won’t help, Matheson and Gordon have decided to sponsor a bill that would ban the importation of low-level radioactive waste unless the nuclear material originated in the U.S. or the waste was imported for a strategic national purpose. The two congressmen have been joined by Utah’s Republican governor,. Jon Huntsman, who is opposed to the waste coming to his state.
Huntsman can’t get legislation passed in his own state banning the importation of nuclear waste, thanks to the numerous political donations that EnergySolutions has spread around among state lawmakers, and its army of lobbyists. In fact, one of the company’s former lobbyists is Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), whose district includes the dump site.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
NRC Says It Can't Ban Importation of Nuclear Waste (by Brock Vergakis, Associated Press)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (AllGov)
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