The Utah Radiation Control Board unanimously approved a letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Friday requesting that EnergySolutions be denied in its quest to import nuclear waste from Italy.

Of the 20,000 tons of waste that would be allowed by two pending NRC applications, only about 1,600 tons would be destined for disposal at EnergySolutions' Clive facility in Tooele County, according to the company. The remainder would be processed by the company's Bear Creek, Tenn., site.

The letter from the state cited concerns about maintaining storage capacity for domestically produced waste, as well as questioning the tact of a country that has the technology to utilize nuclear power but chooses to send its waste elsewhere.

"We believe that any country that has the technological capability of producing nuclear power within its borders should not seek to dispose of its waste outside them. Development of nuclear power should go hand-in-hand with the development of disposal options," the letter states.

Tye Rogers, spokesman for EnergySolutions, read a letter from chairman and CEO Steve Creamer to the board that reiterated the company's stance that they had no intention of becoming the world's solution to nuclear waste disposal issues. The letter stated, in part: "EnergySolutions has no plans to open the gates of Clive for wholesale disposal of the world's nuclear waste."

Richard Sprott, board member and executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, asked Rogers if Italy had the technological capability to process and dispose of its waste.

"Certainly they do," Rogers said. "It's more the political part than the technical part as far as getting a disposal facility over there."

Another board inquiry was about whether foreign waste could represent a new revenue stream for EnergySolutions.

Rogers said that it "wasn't specifically that we're going to go out and look for foreign waste," but also added, "If we came across something ... if we can provide solutions to other people's problems, we'll certainly do that."

U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson has already weighed in against the permits in a letter to the NRC and, according to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, Huntsman would likely draft a cover letter to accompany the document approved by the radiation control board. Roskelley said the board, all of whom are Huntsman appointees, would have the governor's full support.

John Urgo, outreach director for the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, said his group is pleased with the board's decision, but said it's just a step in the process of convincing the NRC to deny the permit requests.

"It's not just a state issue, it's a national issue," Urgo said. "We're going to continue to get public comments to the NRC."

Urgo noted that the public comment period, scheduled to end March 11, had just been extended another 90 days by the federal commission. He said he was under the impression that this was due to a large volume of public comment generated by the issue.

Urgo said citizen groups in Tennessee were forming alliances with groups in Utah as well as others from around the country to advocate for NRC refusal of the EnergySolutions permit applications. In addition, Urgo said a letter requesting that a Utah hearing be held by the NRC was sent in mid-February, though no response has been received.

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