11/03/09

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A House panel has voted to block the
importation of foreign nuclear waste into the United States in
response to a Salt Lake City company's plan to bury low-level
radioactive waste from Italy in Utah.

The Energy and Commerce Committee's energy subcommittee on
Tuesday approved by a voice vote a bill sponsored by Reps. Jim
Matheson, D-Utah; Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; and Lee Terry, R-Neb. to
prohibit the importation of low-level radioactive waste.

At issue is 20,000 tons of waste from Italy. EnergySolutions
Inc. wants to process it in Tennessee and then dispose the
remaining 1,600 tons at its facility about 70 miles west of Salt
Lake City.

A companion version of the bill has been introduced in the
Senate by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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