Gordon’s Nuclear Waste Import Ban Moves To House Floor

Tennessee Congressman Bart Gordon’s bill to ban imported nuclear waste gained approval from a House Committee today.

The measure was introduced after when an American company asked for permission to dispose of up to 20-thousand tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. The material would be processed in Oak Ridge, then buried in Utah. That permit is still pending, but Gordon says there are now two more applications for similar plans.

“Other countries are reading the signs that the US is poised to become a global dumping ground for the world’s radioactive waste. Foreign waste threatens the capacity we have set aside in this country for waste generated by our own domestic industries: the medical facilities, university research labs and utility companies.”

The bill passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a nearly party-line vote of 34 to 12. Brentwood Republican Marsha Blackburn voted “no.”

The bill now moves on to the schedule for a full House vote.

Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander is the sole sponsor of the bill’s Senate version.