Matheson Re-Introduces Bill to Ban Foreign Waste Disposal in Utah

January 14, 2009

Washington D.C.—Congressman Jim Matheson has launched a renewed effort to ban the importation of foreign radioactive waste into the United States. He joined Congressman Bart Gordon of Tennessee and Congressman Lee Terry of Nebraska in introducing the bipartisan "Radioactive Import Deterrence" (RID) Act of 2009 Thursday.

"Utah is not the place for the world’s radioactive junk. We have increasing domestic demand for low-level radioactive waste disposal and shrinking space.  I see no good reason, as public policy, to allow other countries to dump their waste here," said Matheson.

Matheson said the legislation is identical to the bill he championed last year.  It prohibits the importation of low-level radioactive waste from foreign countries into the U.S. unless it is waste being returned to a U.S. government or military facility or it is waste resulting from nuclear material that originated in the US and is being returned for management and disposal.

Matheson says current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations allow the importation if the recipient of the waste has the appropriate waste disposal license. Until recently, only licenses for small amounts of foreign waste were approved. That changed last year, with the request by a Utah company for a license to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level waste from decommissioned nuclear reactors in Italy. Approximately 1,600 tons would be sent to the company’s Clive, Utah facility for permanent burial.

Matheson notes the Utah site is the only one where the 36 states who are not members of state compacts can dispose of their low-level waste. The Northwest Interstate Compact—of which Utah is a member—has denied permission for the Italian waste, prompting a federal lawsuit by the company.

"No other country in the world accepts another country’s radioactive waste for disposal and neither should the United States.  If they have the technology to generate nuclear power, they have the technology to handle their own waste," said Matheson.

A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate.

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