from Chattanooga Free Times Press, March 24, 2010:

NASHVILLE — Senate Environment Committee members today approved legislation that the bill’s sponsor, Chattanooga Sen. Andy Berke, says will stop 20,000 tons of foreign nuclear waste from being stranded in Tennessee.

The bill bans a practice known as “downblending” in which highly toxic and radioactive “Class B” or “Class C” waste is blended with less harmful “Class A” waste in an attempt to classify the waste as Class A.

“We’re one step closer to ensuring that Tennessee doesn’t become the world’s nuclear dumping ground,” Sen. Berke, D-Chattanooga, said in a news release. “I applaud the members of the Senate Environment Committee who placed the safety of Tennessee families ahead of the financial interests of one Utah-based nuclear waste company.”

The bill passed on a 5-4 vote and, barring unforeseen circumstances, would go to the Senate floor. The House version remains in a subcommittee.

by TN Press Release Center on March 23, 2010

Bill to prohibit downblending passes Environment Committee 5-4

NASHVILLE – A Senate committee Tuesday passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) to stop 20,000 tons of foreign nuclear waste from potentially being stranded in Tennessee by prohibiting nuclear waste “downblending.”

“We’re one step closer to ensuring that Tennessee doesn’t become the world’s nuclear dumping ground,” Berke said. “I applaud the members of the Senate Environment Committee who placed the safety of Tennessee families ahead of the financial interests of one Utah-based nuclear waste company.”

The Senate Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee passed the bill 5-4 on Tuesday, meaning the bill likely will move soon to the Senate floor. The House version is in subcommittee.

Under the bill (SB2735/HB2826), Tennessee would prohibit nuclear waste downblending, which involves mixing highly toxic and radioactive “Class B and C” waste with less harmful “Class A” waste in an attempt to classify the waste as Class A.

A Utah-based nuclear waste company is applying to downblend nuclear waste at its Oak Ridge facility. At the same time, the company wants to import 20,000 tons of Italian radioactive waste into its Oak Ridge facility.

No state in the country allows downblending. If the Italian radioactive waste is downblended in Oak Ridge, no disposal site in the United States will accept the waste – meaning it could be stuck in Tennessee for good.

Downblending is not supported by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Tennessee already prohibits similar processes in its clean water and hazardous waste programs. Research has shown that blended waste would have a radiation dose 465 times greater than federal regulations for Class A waste.

“Tennesseans deserve lawmakers who will fight to protect their families from dangerous nuclear waste,” Berke said. “I’m not going to sit back and let Tennessee become the world’s nuclear dumpster.”

Bill Would Prohibit Nuclear Waste Downblending

NASHVILLE – State Sen. Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) and Rep. Ty Cobb (D-Columbia) want to stop 20,000 tons of foreign nuclear waste from potentially being stranded in Tennessee by filing a bill designed to prohibit nuclear waste “downblending.”

“The ramifications of allowing downblended nuclear waste into Tennessee will be disastrous for generations. The highly radioactive waste will endanger our families, our communities and our environment,” Berke said. “I’m not going to let Tennessee become the world’s dumpster.”

Under the bill (SB2735/HB2826), Tennessee would prohibit nuclear waste downblending, which involves diluting highly toxic and radioactive “Class B and C” waste with less harmful “Class A” waste in an attempt to classify the waste as Class A.

A Utah-based nuclear waste company is applying to downblend nuclear waste at its Oak Ridge facility. At the same time, the company wants to import 20,000 tons of Italian radioactive waste into its Oak Ridge facility.

No state in the country allows downblending. If the Italian radioactive waste is downblended in Oak Ridge, no disposal site in the United States will accept the waste – meaning it could be stuck in Tennessee for good.

“This is just another example of a huge corporation looking out for its own interests at the expense of our families’ health and well-being,” Cobb said. “Lawmakers have a responsibility to stand up and put Tennesseans first in this issue. As a leader for this state, I will not allow Tennessee to become a dumping ground for hazardous nuclear waste.”

Downblending is not supported by the national Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Tennessee already prohibits similar processes in its clean water and hazardous waste programs. Research has shown that blended waste would have a radiation dose 465 times greater than federal regulations for Class A waste.

Berke and Cobb’s efforts are similar to those by Tennessee Congressman Bart Gordon and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who are sponsoring the Radioactive Import Deterrent Act in Congress to prohibit the import of foreign-generated radioactive waste anywhere in the United States.

“Rep. Cobb and I support Senator Alexander and Congressman Gordon’s efforts in Washington,” Berke said. “I hope we can work together in Nashville to achieve the same purpose – the protection of our citizens and our environment.”

“The United States stands alone as the only country in the world that imports other countries’ radioactive waste for permanent disposal,” Gordon said as he explained his bill on the House floor. “The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently considering the importation of 20,000 tons of Italian waste. Other countries are reading the signs that the U.S. is poised to become a nuclear dumping ground, permit applications are also pending for the importation of Brazilian and Mexican waste.”

The Italian waste importation would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. If the permits for the Italian, Brazilian, and Mexican waste importations are approved, the nuclear waste shipments would be sent to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah.

Gordon has led the effort in Congress to stop these importations and ban the practice of allowing other countries to dispose their radioactive waste in the U.S. The bipartisan RID Act would prohibit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the importation of foreign-generated low-level nuclear waste for disposal in the U.S. unless the President deems the importation would meet critical national or international goals.

“This waste is generated all over the United States, but finding permanent disposal sites has proved difficult,” said Gordon. “Foreign waste threatens the capacity we have set aside in this country for the waste generated by our domestic industries—our medical facilities, university research labs and utility companies. It is critical that Congress protect that capacity. Today’s vote brings the RID Act one step closer to becoming law.”

One site, located in Utah, stores 99% of the United States’ low-level radioactive waste. Gordon’s bill would preserve the limited disposal space at this site for domestic companies that generate low-level radioactive waste. Having passed the House, the bill now moves to the Senate, where Senator Lamar Alexander has introduced the companion version of Gordon’s bill.

(Click here to watch Congressman Gordon’s opening remarks on Youtube. To download a high-quality version of the Congressman’s opening remarks, click here.)

“We’re the only nation in the world that accepts the nuclear waste of other countries for disposal and incurs the responsibility of monitoring it for generations to come,” said Gordon. “I am pleased my colleagues on the Committee recognized the importance of stopping this practice and approved this bipartisan legislation. Today’s vote brings the RID Act one step closer to becoming law.”

Currently, a permit is pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the United States. This would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. Permits to import and dispose radioactive waste from Mexico and Brazil are also pending. If these permits are approved, the nuclear waste shipments would be sent to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah.

Gordon has been leading the effort in Congress to ban the practice of allowing other countries to dispose their radioactive waste in the U.S. The bipartisan RID Act would prohibit the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the importation of foreign-generated low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the U.S. unless the President deems the importation would meet critical national or international goals.

“We already have limited space in our country for the radioactive waste generated by American entities and it should be preserved for them – the medical facilities, university research labs and utility companies. These industries in 37 states have only one available disposal site to use in Clive, Utah.” added Gordon.

The Energy and Commerce Committee approved the RID Act by a vote of 34 to 12. Approval by the full committee now clears the bill for consideration by the entire U.S. House of Representatives. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Lamar Alexander.

Click here to watch video from the hearing.

NOTE: On Wednesday (Nov. 4), the Heritage Foundation published a blog enty in The Foundry entitled “Concerns Over Nuclear Waste Importation Should Not Lead to Ban.” It was about bipartisan legislation I have authored, the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, and I believed their posting did not accurately reflect the impact and related issues concerning my bill. They graciously allowed me to respond and included my posting on their website. The below op-ed is what I submitted to the Heritage Foundation.

While I was encouraged to see the Heritage Foundation is taking an interest in the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, the organization’s recent posting on its blog, the Foundry, demonstrates a misunderstanding of the fundamental goals of this legislation.

Currently, no other nation in the world takes in another country’s nuclear waste for permanent disposal and perpetual monitoring. Every nation has a responsibility to take care of its own waste. Since the Nuclear Regulatory Commission received the initial application for the importation of 20,000 tons of Italian waste, there have been applications to bring in both Mexican and Brazilian nuclear waste. The sites we have licensed in the U.S. were established to dispose of the waste from our own nuclear power plants and other facilities, and we expect that need to grow rapidly with the planned expansion of nuclear power, which I and the bill’s other authors support. The RID Act would set an important precedent.

We cannot and should not send the message to the world that the U.S. is willing to be their nuclear waste repository. Permanent disposal of another country’s waste is not, nor has it ever been, a part of any agreement on nuclear fuel cycle technology cooperation – agreements that the U.S. has with 41 other countries, including India, China and the United Arab Emirates. Surely, the Heritage Foundation isn’t proposing that we take the nuclear waste from all of those countries! The RID Act prevents the U.S. from becoming a global dumping ground, while offering the President an opportunity to exempt shipments that advance important policy goals.

The Heritage Foundation’s posting also states – without any evidence – that somehow if the U.S. doesn’t dispose of other countries’ nuclear waste, our companies will lose some sort of competitive edge. Since no other country takes in foreign nuclear waste, that is a false argument. Furthermore, there is nothing to stop a U.S. company from building a waste processing facility in another country and using their technology to treat that country’s waste. At least two companies have already said they intend to do so.

We already have limited space in our country for the radioactive waste generated by American entities, and it should be preserved for them. I look forward to the Energy and Commerce Committee’s consideration of this important bill, and I hope that my colleagues take the time to consider the important objectives of the bill and its careful protection of our domestic industries.

Congressman Bart Gordon represents Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives where he is the Chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The full Energy and Commerce Committee will consider Gordon’s legislation on Thursday, November 5, at 10:00 a.m. CDT.

“We’re the only nation in the world that buries the nuclear waste of other countries in our soil,” said Gordon. “I am pleased that my colleagues on the Subcommittee recognized the importance of stopping this practice and I am glad the full Energy and Commerce Committee will move forward with my bill on Thursday.”

Currently, a permit is pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the United States, which would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste. If approved, the 20,000 tons of nuclear waste would be transported to Tennessee for processing and later disposed in Utah.

Gordon has been leading the effort in Congress to ban the practice of allowing other countries to dispose their radioactive waste in the U.S. His bipartisan Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act, HR. 515, would prohibit the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the importation of foreign-generated low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the U.S. unless the President deems the importation would meet critical national or international goals.

“We already have limited space in our country for the radioactive waste generated by American entities and it should be preserved for them – the medical facilities, university research labs and utility companies,” added Gordon.

Approval by the full committee on Thursday would clear the bill for consideration by the entire U.S. House of Representatives. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Lamar Alexander. Today, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment unanimously approved Congressman Bart Gordon’s bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste for disposal in the United States.

EnergySolutions has a license application pending with NRC to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the U.S., which would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste.  If the license is granted, the nuclear waste shipments would be transported to Tennessee for processing and later disposed of in Utah.  Gordon has been leading the fight against this proposal and is the author of bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign-generated waste for disposal in the U.S.

“We’re the only country in the world that disposes of radioactive waste generated by other countries,” added Gordon.  “It’s time to put an end to this practice and preserve our limited disposal space for the American medical facilities, research labs and utility companies that produce this kind of waste.”

At an October 16 legislative hearing on Gordon’s bill, titled the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, EnergySolutions President Val Christensen’s answers to questions posed by Gordon revealed that the company had not portrayed its business situation with Italy accurately.  In a June 2009 letter to the NRC, EnergySolutions claimed that if a license was not granted to import the Italian waste, it “would cause EnergySolutions substantial economic harm because it is unable to perform work under its contracts for this waste.”

Gordon said that the timeline did not make sense.

“Last year, in sworn testimony at a congressional hearing, EnergySolutions stated that it didn’t have a formal contract with Italy,” said Gordon.  “It wouldn’t make sense for them to then turn around and sign a legally binding contract, as EnergySolutions alleged in its June 2009 filing, while a court case and federal legislation were pending that questioned EnergySolutions’ ability to move forward with the Italian deal.”

At the October hearing, Christensen acknowledged that his company did not have any such contracts and the filing should have said “memorandum of understanding,” which is not a legally binding contract.  EnergySolutions has since clarified its business situation to the NRC.

Video of Bart’s opening statement at the hearing:

Video of Bart questioning the witnesses at the hearing:

On October 16, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment held a legislative hearing on the Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act, bipartisan legislation that I authored. The RID Act would ban the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste for disposal in the U.S. To watch more footage from the hearing click here.

(1/14/2009) I, along with Congressmen Lee Terry (NE-R) and Jim Matheson (UT-D), spoke at a press conference after introducing the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act — a bill that would prohibit the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste.

October 16, 2009, WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon’s bill to ban imports of nuclear waste got a boost today when an official from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed the agency currently lacks the power and authority to stop imports and disposal of foreign-generated radioactive waste in the United States.

“The NRC, the very agency that regulates low-level radioactive waste, made clear unless my bill is passed, nothing will stop countries like Mexico, Italy and Brazil from dumping their radioactive waste in our country,” said Gordon.  “The fact is we have limited space for this kind of waste and it should be reserved for domestic industries that generate it – the medical facilities, university research labs and utility companies.  These industries in 36 states have only one available disposal site to use, located in Clive, Utah.”

Today’s legislative hearing on Gordon’s bill, the Radioactive Import Deterrence (RID) Act, H.R. 515, was held before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment.

During the hearing, Gordon asked the NRC official, Margaret Doane, if it was fair to summarize her testimony by saying unless Congress makes a policy decision, the NRC currently doesn’t have the authority to stop foreign radioactive waste from entering the U.S. for disposal.

“That’s right,” Doane responded.

The U.S. is the only country in the world that imports radioactive waste of other countries for disposal.  Currently, a permit is pending with NRC to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste for disposal in the U.S., which would be the largest importation ever of foreign-generated radioactive waste.  Permits to import and dispose of radioactive waste from Mexico and Brazil are also pending.  If these permits are approved, the nuclear waste shipments would be transported to Tennessee for processing and later disposed of in Utah.

Gordon’s legislation, the RID Act, would ban the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste for disposal in the U.S. unless the President deems the importation would meet critical national or international policy goals.

“By banning the importation of radioactive waste for disposal, we’ll also send the world the right message: if you are going to produce low-level radioactive waste, you’ve got to build the necessary disposal facilities,” stated Gordon during the hearing.

Click here to view video from the hearing.