Look at facts before judging EnergySolutions' plans

"I want to stop them from making us the world's nuclear garbage dump." In this election season we can understand why Congressman Jim Matheson would say this in his latest campaign ad. But he knows, because we have discussed the issue several times, that EnergySolutions will not make Utah the world's dumping ground. It is time to take politics and emotion out of this issue and to examine the facts.

Fact: Disposing of material at our Clive facility that was generated overseas and processed in the United States does not pose a health or safety issue.

Fact: The state of Utah, which regulates Clive, acknowledges that the material — paper, plastics, clothing — does not pose any health or safety risk.

Fact: The material is the same type of material that is safely disposed of at Clive each day that is generated by the domestic nuclear industry, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stated that there is no significant difference between domestic and foreign waste.

Fact: Domestic disposal capacity will not be compromised because EnergySolutions has committed that no more than 5 percent of Clive's 30-plus year disposal capacity would be used for internationally generated material.

Fact: No spent nuclear fuel is disposed of at Clive. Only Class A low-level waste.

So why dispose of this material at Clive? Our nation and the world are in the midst of an energy crisis. According to the Energy Information Administration, world energy demand and releases into the environment of carbon dioxide are expected to increase by over 50 percent by 2030. Energy security and reducing carbon dioxide emissions are the most important energy issues facing the world today. These are issues without borders. Nuclear power, a clean, safe, affordable source of energy, must play a vital role in solving the energy crisis and meeting the increased world energy demand. If by managing a small amount of Italian material we can help a country restart its nuclear power program, the world, including the United States, benefits from the production of energy without the production of greenhouse gas emissions.

EnergySolutions' mission is to help clean up the environment, help provide energy security and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by making the nuclear renaissance a reality. I invite you to take the time to learn more about EnergySolutions and what we do to clean up the environment in places like Moab. Learn what we do to manage nuclear waste that is generated by doctors and research facilities using lifesaving cancer treatments. Learn what we do to help make the nuclear renaissance a reality. Give us a call or come visit us at our Clive facility. Come learn the facts before you make up your mind about the environmental services provided by EnergySolutions.

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Steve Creamer is the CEO and chairman of EnergySolutions.