Matheson Opponent says "No Problem" to Bringing Foreign Nuke Waste to Utah

Press Release

Salt Lake City, UT-Congressman Jim Matheson said Tuesday night's Conversation with the Candidates on KSL 5 TV exposed the view of the Republican candidate that Utah should welcome the world's nuclear waste to be permanently stored in the state.

The comment came about 10 minutes into the broadcast. Host Bruce Lindsay read a question from a viewer regarding the candidates' positions on importing Italian waste to the US.

Matheson's opponent said the following: "I have no problem with them bringing it here and storing it here. What they want to do is bring it to the US and recycle it and then sell most of it to Japan. I have no problem with 'em recycling it and selling this waste to Japan."

Matheson said, "I was stunned to hear my opponent thinks Utah should accept nuclear waste from foreign countries. Utahns should be very concerned."

A Utah company has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to import 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste to the U.S. An estimated 1,600 tons of Class A waste would be buried in the radioactive waste landfill located in Tooele County.

Matheson has introduced federal legislation to prohibit foreign countries from dumping their waste here. During a Congressional hearing on the bill, the company's president admitted it has been importing "small" amounts of foreign waste for several years. The state of Utah and the members of the 8-state compact which governs nuclear waste disposal have said no to the request as well. Matheson says no other country in the world takes another's nuclear trash and neither should the U.S.

Matheson said Utahns have fought long and hard to keep from becoming the dumping ground for all types of nuclear waste and he is troubled by how uninformed his opponent is about the issue.

"This waste is dangerous for at least 100 years, according to the NRC regulations for how it is handled and stored. There is no "recycling" of waste in the US for resale. The fact that my opponent is going against what the overwhelming majority of Utahns believe is the folly of bringing foreign waste here says how uninformed and out of touch he is with what's important to Utah," said Matheson.

Matheson said he'll continue to make passage of his bill a top priority in order to close the door once and for all to the bad public policy of importing foreign radioactive waste.

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