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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Utah congressman is still awaiting a response from the U.S. Department of Energy on his request that it halt the shipment of nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium from South Carolina that are expected to begin making their way to Utah for disposal this month.
Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson wrote Energy Secretary Steven Chu Sept. 16, asking him to suspend the disposal of depleted uranium from the Savannah River Site and to postpone any decisions on the disposal of waste from DOE sites in Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky., until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission finalizes rules on disposal.
Depleted uranium is different from other low-level radioactive waste because it becomes hotter over time.
A message left with the Energy Department on Monday was not immediately returned.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
