Matheson is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban the importation of low-level waste into the U.S., stripping the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the power to rule on import requests on a case-by-case basis. The only exceptions would be waste originally generated in the U.S., or waste from an overseas U.S. military facility.

It's a case of desperate times calling for desperate measures. Utah-based EnergySolutions is seeking a license from the NRC to import 20,000 tons of waste from Italy's decommissioned nuclear power industry, an unprecedented amount that has raised legitimate concerns that the United States, and Utah in particular, could become the world's dumping ground.

After the Italian materials are processed and recycled in Tennessee, 1,600 tons would wind up in the company's low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Clive in Tooele County. Beginning in July, EnergySolutions' Utah dump will be the only disposal option available to 36 states. And, with only three such facilities in the nation, we don't have the space to spare.

It's imperative that we reserve the Tooele County dump for domestic use, and resist any attempt to expand the facility, or open another, in the Beehive State. Anything else would be a nuclear disaster for Utah, threatening our quality of life, our burgeoning tourism industry, and the health and welfare of current and future generations of Utahns.

If a foreign country has the technical expertise to build nuclear power plants and field industries that create radioactive waste, it certainly has the know-how to design its own dump and dispose of its own nuclear garbage. But, with a private, for-profit company ready and willing to take the waste off their hands, they'll line up to do business with EnergySolutions, and spare their citizens the danger at our expense. We can't let that happen.

Matheson has the backbone to stand up to the nuclear waste disposal industry, a commodity in short supply among movers and shakers in Utah. And he has the best interests of his constituents, his state and the nation in mind. The rest of our congressional delegation need to step up and assure that Congress approves this bill.