Mailboxes at the federal agency have been stuffed with thousands of cards, letters and e-mails of late, as John and Jane Utahns sound off on a proposal by EnergySolutions Inc. to import low-level radioactive waste from Italy.

More than 3,000 opponents of the plan have weighed in, including some heavyweights: the state Radiation Control Board, the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Huntsman's office is calling for a formal NRC hearing, hoping to publicly air its objections before the agency rules on the request. It says the waste may pose an "unreasonable risk" to public health and safety. It claims federal law requires an exhaustive environmental impact study before an import license can be issued. And it argues that there is no approved facility to accept the waste after the Northwest Compact's board voted down the proposal, a decision that EnergySolutions is challenging in federal court. Way to go, Gov.!

It should come as no surprise that the proposal was thumbed down by Huntsman, and in the court of public opinion. After all, only EnergySolutions, Italy and other countries eyeing the company's dump in Tooele County as a repository for their dangerous radioactive waste can possibly benefit. The rest of us will be losers, Utahns in particular, if the Beehive State becomes the world's dumping ground, and our nation's dwindling disposal space is partly filled with foreign waste.

But the public's verdict may not count for much. The NRC doesn't make policy; it simply adheres to it. And the current federal policy allows the importation of low-level radioactive waste if it meets health and safety guidelines. So those emotional and philosophical arguments - save the space, let Italy dispose of its own waste, tourism will suffer - may well be moot.

It's up to Congress to change the policy, and close the book on the debate. And Rep. Jim Matheson has provided the vehicle, HR5632, a bill that would ban the importation of low-level radioactive waste. But the rest of Utah's legislative delegation isn't on board.

So it's time to raise your voices again. Call or e-mail Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch, and Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop, and tell them to use their leverage and their votes to help pass Matheson's bill.