EnergySolutions has a good thing going, a virtual monopoly on the disposal of Class A low-level radioactive waste in the United States.

The company's waste disposal facility at Clive in Tooele County serves as the sole repository for low-level waste generated in 36 states. And that waste stream produces a steady stream of revenue.

But, the publicly traded, profit-motivated nuclear waste disposal firm is not content. Like a Girl Scout troop with a truckload of cookies, EnergySolutions is knocking on doors in a bid for new business and higher earnings. It's determined to expand its territory, to go global, by importing radioactive waste.

Over the years, the company has accepted trifling amounts of radioactive waste from our friends in Britain and Taiwan, Germany and France, Canada and Mexico, without attracting too much attention. But now, it's trying to pump up the volume and acquire a license to import 20,000 tons of low-level waste from Italy. Its international aspirations are evident. And, if the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission sets a precedent by issuing the license, nations will be lining up to sign contracts and avoid disposing of these dangerous materials in their own backyards.

Should the United States, and by that we mean Utah, become the world's nuclear dumping ground? It's a tough sell for EnergySolutions. But the company, it seems, will do whatever it takes to convince the public, lawmakers and regulators that

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it has our best interests at heart. It's even offered to share the proceeds from the Italian waste with the state. And it promises that no more than 5 percent of the precious capacity at Clive will be wasted on imports.

But now, the company may have gone too far. In a filing with the NRC in June, EnergySolutions claimed it would be unable to fulfill its contractual obligations and would suffer "substantial economic harm" if the license were not issued expeditiously. But, in fact, no signed contract exists.

The error was revealed at a hearing in Washington last week, as a congressional committee contemplates legislation that would rightly ban radioactive waste imports. The company has since sent a clarification to the NRC.

It's impossible to say if this was an honest mistake or part of the company's hard sell, a disingenuous pressure tactic to try to land the license and make the stockholders happy. That's for the NRC to decide.

Fortunately, the decision facing Congress is much easier. Every square inch of our dwindling disposal space should be reserved for domestic waste.