SALT LAKE CITY, May 6 (UPI) -- The company that operates the only commercial low-level U.S. radioactive waste disposal site wants a court to allow it to accept nuclear waste from Italy.
EnergySolutions, a Utah company, filed a pre-emptive lawsuit Monday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The company asked the court to find that the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management has no jurisdiction over its Utah operation.
The company agreed to accept 20,000 tons of waste from Italy's nuclear power program. After processing at the EnergySolutions plant in Tennessee and the resale of some metal, 1,600 tons would be shipped to Utah.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is expected to use his deciding vote to block the shipment when the eight states in the compact meet Thursday in Boise, Idaho. Steve Creamer, CEO of EnergySolutions, said that the company has promised that no more than 5 percent of the remaining space at its waste-disposal site in Tooele County will be used for foreign waste.
