Europeans to Dump Waste in America

SALT LAKE CITY (CN) - As the euro continues its rise against the dollar and the European standard of living continues to rise above that of Americans, the Europeans now want to dump their radioactive waste in America, and EnergySolutions says it's OK.

EnergySolutions expects a shipment of low level radioactive waste from Italy, to store at its site in Clive, Utah, and it claims that the eight-state Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management has no right to try to keep it from doing this.

EnergySolutions runs a private, commercial, low-level radioactive disposal site in Clive, under license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It stores waste from hospitals, universities, pharmaceutical companies and nuclear power plants.

The Northwest Compact was created by Congress in 1986 and includes eight Western states: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

EnergySolutions claims in Federal Court: "The Clive Facility was not created under the authority of the Northwest Compact and is not under the general jurisdiction of the Northwest Compact. The Northwest Compact does not exercise any management or operations control over the Clive Facility. As a matter of accommodation, EnergySolutions has coordinated some of its activities with the Northwest Compact, but it has maintained that the Northwest Compact has not authority to control its receipt of materials."

It claims that the Northwest Compact "in reaction to EnergySolutions' routine application for an NRC license to import LLRW from Italy, has indicated that it will initiate a voting procedure to restrict EnergySolutions' receipt" of the material. It claims the Northwest Compact is acting beyond its authority "and in violation of the U.S. Constitution."

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