EnergySolutions: Day of reckoning for Italian waste draws near

EnergySolutions: Day of reckoning for Italian waste draws near

October. Halloween. Ghosts and goblins. Just for the fun of it, we give ourselves a scare.
    But this October has the potential for something truly frightening. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may decide this month if Utah will be the final resting place for Italy's low-level radioactive waste.
    That would be a bad thing for the nation, and for Utah in particular. Our No. 1 industry, tourism, would suffer. So would economic development. "World's Nuclear Waste Dumping Ground." It's not the kind of thing you put on a sign at the state border, or on chamber of commerce brochures. It's not the kind of reputation you want to have.
    And there's something perverse about the idea that we would accept dangerous materials that another country doesn't want, or that a company would seek contracts that burden us with nuclear waste simply to make a profit.
    EnergySolutions' dump in Tooele County, the nation's only privately owned nuclear waste disposal facility, has proven to be an attractive nuisance. The company hopes to dump 1,600 tons of waste from Italy's nuclear power industry in the Beehive State.
    If the NRC approves the licensing request, it will be against the wishes of Gov. Jon Huntsman, an eight-state nuclear waste compact, the Utah Radiation Control Board, a host of environmental advocacy organizations and hundreds of average Utahns who have stated their objections in correspondence with the federal agency. And it will defy the canons of common sense.
    Our nation has limited disposal space for low-level nuclear waste, which is primarily generated by our nuclear power industry, which could be on the verge of an unprecedented expansion in response to global warming concerns. The EnergySolutions facility is currently the only disposal option available for 36 states. It is essential that every inch of the dump be reserved for domestic waste.
    And with a bill pending in Congress to ban the importation of foreign radioactive waste, and a U.S. District court battle looming to determine if the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste Management can halt the shipments, an NRC decision seems premature.
    Federal regulations currently forbid importing waste unless there is an approved facility in which to dispose of it. And until the federal court rules on the Compact case, the door at the dump is closed. For that reason alone, the NRC should deny the request.