Font ResizeWashington » EnergySolutions has sent a clarification to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission explaining that it did not have signed contracts to import Italian low-level waste after a congressman questioned the company's claim last week.
Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., quizzed EnergySolutions President Val Christensen about why the company argued in a June filing that it would suffer substantial economic harm if a license were not granted to import 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy.
Christensen acknowledged that the company did not have any contracts and the filing should have said "memorandum of understanding," which is not a legally binding contract.
In a filing with the NRC Friday, the company said that "upon further review" it would be more precise to use the word "memorandum" instead of "contracts."
Gordon, along with Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is sponsoring legislation that would ban the importation of foreign low-level radioactive waste. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, also is a co-sponsor.
The waste, if imported, would be processed at a facility in Tennessee and 1,600 tons of radioactive leftovers would be disposed of at EnergySolutions' site in Tooele County. Utah has objected to the move, which is now the subject of litigation.
