Nuclear Waste
Italian Waste
Any country possessing the technology for nuclear power should be capable of disposing of its own radioactive waste. In response to a company’s request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to import 20,000 tons of waste from Italy for long-term storage in Utah, Matheson introduced legislation to ban the importation of foreign waste. With increasing demand for low-level radioactive waste storage domestically and dwindling space, it is neither in Utah’s nor the United States’ interest to become the destination for other countries’ waste.
Moab Tailings Clean Up
A 16-million ton pile of radioactive waste sits next to the Colorado River in Moab, a toxic relict of a dismantled uranium mill. After more than 10 years of study the Department of Energy (DOE) announced its decision to remove the material to a stable, secure site, after scientists determined that it was a question of “when, not if” a major flood washes the radioactive waste into the river. That would harm not only Moab residents but it would contaminate the drinking water for 25 million downstream users. Congressman Matheson included language in a defense bill that establishes a cleanup deadline of 2019, making it incumbent upon DOE to safely and efficiently complete the remediation by that date.
Opposition to Yucca Mountain Repository
The West is not a dumping ground for the world’s most lethal radioactive waste. Public health, safety, science and budget constraints all argue against moving spent nuclear fuel on the nation’s roads and railways to Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Those routes would send 95% of the waste through Utah, if it’s moved by rail and 87% if it’s trucked. Nationally, 50 million Americans would be exposed to the risk of an accident or terrorist attack on high level radioactive waste cargo. Matheson introduced legislation to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. It requires commercial nuclear utilities to transfer nuclear waste from spent nuclear fuel pools into dry storage casks. As such, it can be safely and securely stored on site for at least 100 years.