Matheson Opposes Foreign Waste Disposal in Utah

Washington D.C.—Congressman Jim Matheson says low level radioactive waste storage sites in the U.S. should not be a dumping ground for foreign waste but should be reserved for this country’s disposal needs.

Matheson stated his concerns in a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) during the Commission’s 30-day comment period on a license application filed by EnergySolutions to dispose of low-level radioactive waste from Italy in its Utah waste site.

“I have worked for many years to prevent my home state of Utah from becoming a dumping ground for nuclear waste,” Matheson wrote.  “I am particularly concerned that efforts to import waste from international sites come at a time when the U.S. is still struggling to meet its own nuclear waste storage needs.”

EnergySolutions operates the only private, Class A low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in the U.S.  The company has asked the NRC to permit it to take 20,000 tons of waste from decommissioned nuclear reactors in Italy, process it in Tennessee and dispose of the final product—an estimated 1,600 tons of Class A waste-- in its Tooele County disposal cell.  The application marks the first time in the history of the NRC that a company has asked to dispose of large amounts of foreign-generated low level radioactive waste in the U.S.

Federal regulations require approval of the state and the Compact in which the disposal site is located.  EnergySolutions disposes of more than 90 percent of the low level radioactive waste generated in the United States through a license granted by Utah and with the permission of the Northwest Compact.

“All waste streams raise concerns about risks suffered by local communities,” Matheson concludes.  “Adding additional streams of waste from international sites would serve only to compound the risks.”

 

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