Utah appeals ruling on Italian nuclear waste

State attorneys officially filed notice of their appeal of a federal court ruling which said EnergySolutions Inc. falls outside the regulatory purview of the Northwest Interstate Compact.

The appeal of the May ruling had been anticipated for weeks, in light of U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart's decision that dealt a blow to the state and compact's efforts to block EnergySolutions' plan to import low-level radioactive waste from Italy.

The waste, intended for disposal at the company's 439-acre facility in Tooele County's west desert, would occupy 4.3 acres of the total site and is no more "hot" than waste the site currently accepts, company officials have said.

Still, vehement opposition by the state, watchdog groups and the compact led to the federal court battle that played out this year in a set of two separate rulings by Stewart, delivering victory to EnergySolutions on both fronts.

First, in February, Stewart agreed with the company's contention that it is not considered a "regional disposal facility" envisioned by the U.S. government when it created regional compacts to exercise oversight of those type of sites.

Second, Stewart then had to decide if the compact's regulatory controls still extended to facilities outside of that classification and to waste generated outside a compact's regional boundaries.

He said it did not — a decision Utah and the Northwest Interstate Compact wants revisited by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

"It's a difficult question, but we continue to believe we have authority under the compact to regulate waste coming into the Clive facility, and we want the 10th Circuit to take a look at it," said Fred G. Nelson an assistant Utah attorney general.

State officials also anticipate that the Northwest Compact, of which Utah is a member state, and the neighboring Rocky Mountain Compact will file notice of their appeal, due in July.

Before the waste could be shipped to Utah, EnergySolutions would need to receive a license to import the foreign waste, and the company's request is pending before the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

E-MAIL: amyjoi@desnews.com