EnergySolutions, a nuclear waste management company, first announced plans in 2007 to import 20,000 tons of Italian nuclear waste to a Utah facility. The company has met with resistance from local advocates and lawmakers, including Congressman Bart Gordon, who has led national efforts to prevent foreign-generated radioactive waste from being processed in Tennessee and disposed of on U.S. soil. The Italian shipment would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste.

“This is great news for those of us who want to protect U.S. nuclear storage capacity for U.S. waste,” Gordon said. “Today’s decision ensures this facility will maintain its critical role as a site for domestic waste.”

The court’s ruling reaffirms that states can decide whether or not to accept nuclear waste from foreign countries, restoring authority to a multi-state entity known as the Northwest Compact. A lower court had ruled EnergySolutions could proceed with its plans over the objections of the state of Utah and the Compact. 

Gordon applauded the decision but raised concerns about the need for further action, citing the need for Congress to pass legislation he authored to prevent future imports of nuclear waste. His bill, the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, or RID Act, would ban companies from importing nuclear waste altogether, unless the project were deemed of critical national importance by the President. The bill passed the House of Representatives last year with bipartisan support.

“If a country has the capacity to produce large amounts of nuclear waste, it should also have the capacity to treat and store it,” Gordon said. “Foreign-produced waste threatens the capacity we have set aside in this country for waste generated by our own domestic industries—our medical facilities, university research labs and utility companies.  It is critical that Congress protect that capacity.”