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

Jul 24, 2008

Tribune Editorial
<!--date-->Salt Lake Tribune

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.>

Energy$olutions: Nuclear waste firm bolsters Bishop's bank

Jul 18, 2008

Tribune Editorial
Salt Lake Tribune

EnergySolutions has deep pockets. And thanks to the benevolence of the company and a bill pending before Congress, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop does, too.

The nuclear waste disposal firm and its executives have donated $28,200 to the Utah congressman's re-election campaign in the current election cycle, including nearly $25,000 since April. That's more than 40 percent of the money Bishop has received.
While Bishop is practically on the payroll, you can't claim the company is trying to buy his affection. A former lobbyist for the firm when it was known as Envirocare, Bishop has been a big EnergySolutions' booster from the start. As a congressman, he supported EnergySolutions' attempt to dispose of hotter radioactive waste than the state allows at the company's dump in Tooele County.
But perhaps the largesse will make Bishop work extra hard to defeat a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, that would ban the importation of radioactive waste from abroad and wisely reserve our nation's dwindling disposal space for domestic waste. And it's certainly an attempt to bolster his re-election effort.
Bishop, who should stand up and scream "Not in my district!" opposes the bill, which was drafted in response to EnergySolutions' plan to dump low-level radioactive waste from Italy in Utah. He claims that bringing hazardous waste into the country is a state, not a national, issue, and Congress should not get involved. Bishop's opponent in the November election, Democrat Morgan Bowen, supports the ban.
It's an issue that, perhaps, could leave Bishop vulnerable as he seeks a fourth term in Congress. While Utah's 1st Congressional District has been gerrymandered to favor the Republican candidate, the distaste for EnergySolutions' attempt to import foreign waste to Utah crosses party lines. Opponents include Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman, the Utah Radiation Control Board and thousands of citizens who have expressed their objections in letters to the editor and correspondence with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will rule on the request.
What Bishop seems to forget is that he serves all of the people of Utah's 1st Congressional District, not just the folks at EnergySolutions who fill his campaign coffer and will personally benefit from opening the doors at the dump to a flood of foreign nuclear waste. Serving the nation's nuclear waste disposal needs is one thing. Turning Utah into the world's nuclear garbage dump is quite another.