D.C. meltdown: Congress dragging feet on radioactive waste ban

If you’re holding your breath over EnergySolutions’ plan to import low-level radioactive waste from Italy, you might as well exhale. The company’s proposal, and a proposed law to ban foreign waste, are going nowhere fast.
EnergySolutions’ licensing request is bogged down at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where officials have yet to decide if a public hearing will be held before they rule.
A U.S. District Court trial that will decide if a regional waste compact’s ban on the plan will stand won’t be held until September – of 2009.
And the federal legislation that could settle the debate by banning imported waste is mired in a House committee as members of Congress, weighed down with campaign contributions from EnergySolutions and its executives, drag their feet as the recess draws near.
From Italy to Utah, from the United Kingdom to the beltway, the world is watching, waiting and wondering if the United States will foolishly allow itself to become a dumping ground for the planet’s low-level radioactive waste.

It’s a pressing issue, in large part due to EnergySolutions’ international aspirations. In addition to seeking to import 20,000 tons of radioactive waste from Italy’s decommissioned nuclear power industry – the majority of the waste would be recycled at the company’s Tennessee facility with about 1,600 tons destined for its dump in Utah – EnergySolutions has made overtures to a member of Parliament about importing low-level radioactive waste from the United Kingdom.
And the company won’t take no for an answer, filing a federal lawsuit questioning the long-standing authority of the board of the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management, which voted down the company’s request in May.
Congress could, and should, make the court case moot, and pre-empt the NRC decision, by approving legislation to ban imported radioactive waste. If a foreign country has the expertise to operate a nuclear power plant, it can surely design a facility to store its own radioactive waste.
EnergySolutions is a private business, but it provides an essential public service. The company’s disposal facility in Tooele County is the only remaining repository for 36 states, handling more than 90 percent of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.
That’s why it’s essential that Congress acts, and quickly, to preserve our dwindling disposal space for domestic waste.