Prompted by a plan by a company in Utah to bury waste in that state from Italian nuclear plants, the House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday to ban the importation of radioactive waste for disposal in the United States.
EnergySolutions of Salt Lake City has sought permission to import about 20,000 tons (18,145 metric tons) of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. The waste would have been processed in Tennessee and buried at a radioactive waste disposal site about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of the Utah state capital.
The bill was approved 309 to 112. The Senate has not acted. Both chambers would have to approve a compromise measure before it could go to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said it has no power to bar private companies from importing low-level waste so long as they meet safety and security standards. A commission official told a House committee in October that it also has pending applications to import waste from Brazil and Mexico for disposal in Utah.
"The United States stands alone as the only country in the world that imports other countries' radioactive waste for permanent disposal," Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon, a leading sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.
EnergySolutions President Val Christensen said he was disappointed but not surprised by the House vote.
The bill would "place American jobs at risk," Christensen said. "If signed into law, this bill will prevent American companies from playing an international role in the global nuclear energy industry."
The company wants to break into the global market for the handling and disposal of radioactive waste, especially in Europe.
Opponents of the measure have portrayed it as an indirect attempt to undermine the domestic nuclear power industry. Its sponsors, however, say they support nuclear power generation.
"Utah is not the place or the world's radioactive junk," Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, another lead sponsor. "We have increasing domestic demand for low-level radioactive waste disposal and shrinking space."
Source: The Associated Press , Washington | Thu, 12/03/2009
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