Nuclear commission delays decision

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday delayed a decision whether to allow a company to import a record amount of low-level radioactive waste from Italy through Charleston or New Orleans.

The NRC said it will wait until a federal court decides whether an interstate compact can block disposal of the waste in Utah.

EnergySolutions, which operates a low-level radioactive waste landfill in Barnwell, wants to bring the 20,000 tons of low-level waste from decommissioned nuclear reactors in Italy through the ports of Charleston or New Orleans for processing in Tennessee.

After processing, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of at the company's dump in the western Utah desert.

The proposal has drawn a record number of public comments, most in opposition to the plan. A powerful bipartisan group of South Carolina lawmakers also opposes the plan.

Utah joined the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste in 1982 under a plan by Congress to promote regional solutions for low-level waste. When EnergySolutions sought to accept low-level waste in 1991, the state backed the company. But at Utah's urging, the eight-state compact ruled earlier this year that EnergySolutions can only use its dump for domestic waste.

However, EnergySolutions contended the compact has no authority over operations at its landfill in Tooele County, about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City, and has filed a federal lawsuit asking for a judge's ruling on the issue. Utah has agreed to become a defendant in that lawsuit. It was unclear Monday when a court would make a ruling on that case.

A spokesman for EnergySolutions could not be reached for comment Monday.

Tom Clements, Southeastern nuclear campaign coordinator with Friends of the Earth, said the company never specifically explained how it would import waste through Charleston. "It appears, as we have suspected, that EnergySolutions has had no firm import plan and has simply been hoping that Charleston or another port would succumb to pressure after the license was granted and let the radioactive waste in," he said.