Washington (Platts)--16Oct2009/545 pm EDT/2145 GMT

Prohibiting the import of low-level nuclear waste into the US for final disposal could jeopardize the future of nuclear power in the US, Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, said Friday at a hearing of the House of Representatives Energy and Environment Subcommittee.

LLW is orders of magnitude less radioactive than spent reactor fuel and "includes items that have become contaminated with radioactive material or have become radioactive through exposure to neutron radiation. This waste typically consists of contaminated protective shoe covers and clothing, wiping rags, mops, filters" and other items, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says on its web site.

The hearing considered issues related to the legislation (HR 5632) that would prohibit the importation of certain LLW into the US. Representative Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat, and co-sponsors introduced the bill last year, and again in the current Congress, primarily to block importation by EnergySolutions of up to 20,000 tons of LLW from Italy for processing in Tennessee, followed by disposal of some of the residual waste at the company's Clive, Utah, facility. The NRC is reviewing the company's application for a license to import that waste.

Upton, the subcommittee top Republican, said at the hearing that HR 5632 is "the camel's nose under the tent" for anti-nuclear interests that want to shut down all US nuclear waste facilities and mothball current power reactors.

Representative Edward Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the subcommittee, said at the hearing that the bill is not anti-nuclear, and would in fact preserve LLW disposal capacity for US power reactors and US producers. Markey said other nations might follow Italy's lead and make the US the "dumping ground" for the world's LLW.

EnergySolutions President Val Christensen said in his testimony that ample LLW disposal space remains at the Clive facility for both US and international clients, and the company would limit disposal of imported LLW to no more than 5% of the remaining space or a 10-year period, "whichever comes first."

Margaret Doane, director of NRC's Office of International Programs, testified that NRC is still reviewing the import license application but does not currently have legal authority to prohibit LLW imports or their disposal based solely on their non-US origin. But NRC will not approve such imports if they are found to pose a threat to public health and safety, she said.

--Steven Dolley, steven_dolley@platts.com