OTHER OPINIONS : Just say no
Posted: October 27, 2009 at 6:18 a.m.
JACKSON, Tenn. — If a friend asked to dump his garbage in your yard because he knew you would know what to do with it, what would you say?
Probably, no thanks. That’s what the U.S. should say to countries that want to send their nuclear waste here for processing and storage. Thankfully, Sen. Lamar Alexander and U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon of Murfreesboro are sponsoring legislation in Congress to keep other countries’ nuclear waste out of the U.S.
No other nation allows the importation and storage of another country’s nuclear waste. We shouldn’t, either.
The controversy arose when a private Utah company, EnergySolutions, asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to bring in 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. The companywould process the waste in Tennessee and store the resulting 1,600 tons at a private facility 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. The NRC also said it has applications from Mexico and Brazil to do the same thing.
The U.S. handles its own nuclear waste based on a regional system established by Congress in the 1980s. Current laws don’t address importing nuclear waste from other countries. But that issue is addressed in the proposed legislation. …
The problem with allowing the waste to come to the U.S. is that America will become the world’s dumping ground for nuclear waste. That’s because no other country will accept the stuff. This is not a “world leader” designation America needs. …
Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/27/2009
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