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SALT LAKE CITY -- A war over foreign nuclear waste came to a peaceful end Wednesday. In a surprise announcement, EnergySolutions Inc. abandoned its quest to bring radioactive waste from other countries to Utah.
The company makes big money burying low-level radioactive waste in its Tooele County landfill. But now, one type of customer is suddenly off the table.
"We've adopted a new strategy that does not include bringing any international nuclear waste to the state of Utah," said EnergySolutions CEO Val Christensen.
EnergySolutions says it's strictly a business decision, but the company's critics were quick to claim victory after waging a long and sometimes bitter legal and political battle.
"The huge victory for Utahns is that Utah will not become the world's nuclear dumping ground, and that's great news," said Vanessa Pierce, executive director of Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.
EnergySolutions has fought in the courts, in Congress and in the arena of public opinion for the right to dispose of foreign nuclear waste at the company's Utah landfill. The controversy swirled around nearly 20,000 tons of slightly radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear power plants in Italy.
After processing in Tennessee, approximately 1,600 tons would have been dumped in Utah.
The huge victory for Utahns is that Utah will not become the world's nuclear dumping ground, and that's great news.
–Vanessa Pierce
EnergySolutions has repeatedly said capacity is not a problem at the site. The company has long held that it only wanted to dispose of foreign nuclear in an effort to build relationships with other countries and build disposal facilities abroad.
But Wednesday, that controversy was put to rest as the company announced it would try to help open a disposal facility in Italy instead.
"It simply makes more sense to develop long-term strategic partnerships with our international customers and to help them solve their own problems in-country rather than look to a short-term solution that involves bringing these wastes to Utah," said Christensen.
Christensen said it was unclear how quickly a disposal facility could be built abroad.
Critics say public pressure undoubtedly played a role in the decision, especially after the House of Representatives passed a bill to ban the foreign imports. That bill stalled in the Senate.
The measure's lead sponsors, U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., contend that the U.S. should preserve capacity at its disposal sites for domestic waste at a time the nation is increasingly looking at expanding the use of nuclear power.
The Utah disposal facility is the only one currently available to 36 states.
Matheson has clashed bitterly with EnergySolutions over the issue, and Wednesday, he took partial credit for its resolution.
"This is great news, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "No other country in the world takes another country's radioactive waste. I don't see why the United States should and, in particular, I don't see why Utah should do that."
However, Matheson said he might be open to allowing waste to come into the U.S. for processing if it is disposed abroad. EnergySolutions has indicated it would still want to process foreign waste in the U.S. before returning it to the host country or another with a disposal site.
Company officials insist public pressure had nothing to do with their decision. It's purely a business strategy, they say, in the best interests of stockholders.
"There has been a controversy about this, and the controversy did not drive this decision," said Christensen.
Either way, critics are thrilled with the announcement. "It sounds like EnergySolutions has figured out what Utahns said two years ago, which is that Italy should take care of its own waste," said Pierce.
So far, EnergySolutions has not dropped its federal permit application for the Italian waste. Just in case the company changes its mind again, critics are urging the state to continue with its lawsuit and are calling on Congress to finalize the ban on foreign waste.
EnergySolutions shares fell 23 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $5.03, in Wednesday trading.
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Story compiled with contributions from John Hollenhorst and The Associated Press.
