Let’s recap here: way back in April, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission made this ironic joke where they said it can’t regulate nuclear materials. More specifically, the commission said it cannot stop foreign nuclear waste from being imported into the United States for disposal. This was in response to a company called EnergySolutions wanting to import waste from Italy and dispose of it in Utah. And then, in May, a federal judge ruled that, in fact, nuclear waste can be imported into the country. Though this is being appealed. So, why have I told all this back story?

The House Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment has endorsed a bill that would ban nuclear waste from being imported into the country, which means the House can soon vote on the bill, and it’s likely to pass. Utah’s Deseret News reports that Committee chairman Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., stated, “We on the committee will not allow the United States to be the world’s dumping ground.”

In return, Jill Sigal, executive vice president of strategic planning for EnergySolutions, responded thusly: “When the bill gets over to the Senate, I think there are many senators who will take a close look at this issue and share our view.” Personally, I know very, very little about nuclear anything, or how the Senate views nuclear anything, but the plan is for nothing more than low-level waste (such as lab coats worn in nuclear power plants), and testimony before the committee implies that there’s plenty of space for it. So the question really is, do we want any nuclear waste brought into the country? Anyone out there know the pros and cons of this?

photo credit: takomabibelot’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons