Northwest Interstate Compact Unanimous in Opposition to Foreign Nuclear Waste

May 08, 2008 by Lara Jones

Energy Solutions Pursuing Options in US District Court

(KCPW News) It looks like Energy Solutions will most definitely have a court battle on its hands in order to import nuclear waste from Italy for storage in Utah's west desert. The Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management today asserted its authority to regulate foreign nuclear waste within its eight-state territory:

"The Compact discussed it in a closed-door executive session and essentially said that it does have the authority, in fact, that's why it passed the resolution that said that if Energy Solutions wants to accept the Italian waste, then it would have to go before the compact," said Donna Kemp Spangler, spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Quality.

Her boss, Bill Sinclair, is Utah's representative to the Compact. He was instructed by Governor Jon Huntsman to veto the Energy Solutions request at the Compact's meeting today.

Energy Solutions spokesman Mark Walker says the courts will favor the nuclear waste storage company: "We believe the courts will uphold a position that the Northwest Compact does not have authority over Clive or the authority to interfere with interstate commerce at a private facility."

Energy Solutions wants to import 20,000 tons of nuclear waste from Italy for processing in Tennessee and storage at its dump in Clive, Utah. It filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court Monday seeking to clarify the Compact's authority.

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