When news broke last week that EnergySolutions will not be dumping radioactive nuclear waste from Italy into Tooele County, I was ecstatic. Utahns can finally say “arrivederci” to 1,600 tons of nuclear waste from decommissioned Italian power plants that was earmarked to be buried in the Tooele desert.
Nuclear waste is nasty stuff. I don’t care what EnergySolution’s paid spokespeople say, it’s not a good idea to bury 1,600 tons of foreign radioactive material 75 miles away from Salt Lake City, even if it is low-level waste. It opens a can of worms. We have enough of our own domestic waste to deal with — we don’t need Europe clogging it up even further.
In addition to housing Utah’s nuclear waste, the Clive site in Tooele takes in waste from 36 other states. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Clive site has taken on almost 96 percent of the low-level commercial waste that has gone to commercial disposal sites in the last twenty years.
“No other country in the world takes another country’s radioactive waste,” said Congressman Jim Matheson. “I don’t see why the United States should and in particular, I don’t see why Utah should do that.”
This is the power we as voters hold. It might have taken three years of public condemnation and ridicule, but it worked. Matheson heard the grumbling of his constituents and went to bat for us. He has long been an outspoken critic against EnergySolutions and termed the news “an important decision for Utah.”
One of the most encouraging signs during this process has been the bipartisan support. Both Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and Democrat Matheson have opposed EnergySolution’s proposal to dump foreign waste in Utah.
Both politicians have been vocal supporters of the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives. RID’s goal is to ban all importation of radioactive waste. By blocking foreign waste, we will have more room for our own domestic waste and foreign nations will dispose of their own waste on their own soil.
The act now needs to be passed in the Senate, but it’s a step in the right direction. Nuclear waste is an issue that affects both sides of the political spectrum. This is what happens when people work together for a common goal—things get done. This is a victory for everyone in Utah.