Radioactive waste dump expansion possible in Utah

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's impending resignation could open the door for a nuclear waste disposal firm to increase the capacity of the country's largest low-level radioactive waste dump by about 78 percent.

EnergySolutions Inc. was already on a path to pile up to 9.8 million cubic yards of waste on its mile-square facility in Utah in 2007 when Huntsman threatened to use a regional compact to block its application. Instead, Huntsman and company CEO Steve Creamer signed an agreement in which EnergySolutions withdrew its application and reaffirmed its commitment not to dispose of hotter radioactive waste in the state.

In exchange, Huntsman said the company could convert 3.6 million cubic yards of space reserved for uranium mill tailings so it could handle the type of debris that comes from decommissioned nuclear power plants. Huntsman also pledged not to tell the compact to reduce the 5.5 million cubic yards of waste already licensed to the company as long as it didn't seek to expand.

The company has repeatedly said it would honor the agreement with Huntsman, but it declined to tell The Associated Press whether it would honor the agreement with future governors.

Huntsman, who won a second term in November, is expected to resign within weeks once the U.S. Senate confirms him as ambassador to China.

A company spokesman wrote in an e-mail to the AP that it has "no plans" to revive its license application once Huntsman leaves office.

However, shortly after withdrawing its application to the Utah Radiation Control Board in 2007, the company told state regulators to keep its voluminous file on hand because EnergySolutions was preserving its right to seek future approval for the expansion.

There is expected to be a growing demand for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in the future as governments around the world make a greater push for the use of nuclear power. The company also disposes of hazardous waste from hospitals and university research labs.

Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who will become governor once Huntsman resigns, has said he doesn't plan to change anything Huntsman has done in regard to EnergySolutions.

"It is Lt. Gov. Herbert's intent to continue to recognize the agreement between Gov. Huntsman and EnergySolutions as binding even upon the resignation of Gov. Huntsman," said Jason Perry, Herbert's transition director. "That agreement continues through even in the change of administration."

But it is unclear what, if anything, Herbert could do to keep EnergySolutions from expanding even if the agreement remains valid once Huntsman resigns.