House OKs bill to ban imported radioactive waste

House OKs bill to ban imported radioactive waste

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a bill banning the importation of radioactive waste for disposal in the United States.

The move was prompted by a Salt Lake City company's plan to import 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italian nuclear plants. The waste imported by EnergySolutions would have been processed in Tennessee and buried at a site in Utah.

The bill was approved 309 to 112. The Senate hasn't yet acted on the issue.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said it has no power to bar private companies from importing low-level waste as long as they meet safety and security standards. A commission official told the House in October that it also has pending applications to import waste from Brazil and Mexico for disposal in Utah.

"The United States stands alone as the only country in the world that imports other countries' radioactive waste for permanent disposal," Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., a leading sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPKbNiFvcl53Z5dBtZovJJpjudbQD9CBGL8G0

Of course it's a good thing.

The funny part is - and not funny haha - that there is even a need to ban importing other people's radioactive waste.

especially in Navajoland from the 70s we still have to get rid of.