SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A bill banning the importation of foreign nuclear waste into America is being blocked by a senator from Utah with ties to the importer, bill supporters say.
The bill would stop a Salt Lake City company, EnergySolutions, from bringing in 20,000 tons of radioactive waste from Italy to Tennessee for processing and then burying 1,600 tons of material at a Utah site, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is holding up Senate action on the measure, the bill's lead sponsor, Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander, said.
Congress should hold off until courts decide if Utah can legally block the waste disposal at EnergySolutions' site, Bennett says.
EnergySolutions executives and the company's political action committee are the single largest contributors to Bennett's re-election bid, with more than $50,000 so far, the Tribune reported.
His main campaign consultant, Greg Hopkins, is a former EnergySolutions vice president, the newspaper said.
