EnergySolutions withdraws application to import Italian nuclear waste, dispose of it in Utah

Utah firm withdraws nuke waste import application

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions Inc. has withdrawn its application to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy.

The company sent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a letter requesting its application be withdrawn on Friday.

The move to withdraw the import license application comes after the company announced this month that it would no longer seek to dispose of foreign nuclear waste at its disposal facility in Utah’s west desert.

Instead, the company says it will try to help build and manage overseas disposal sites.

The application to import the waste and dispose it in Utah was opposed by two Utah governors. The U.S. House also passed a bill banning the importation of low-level radioactive waste. The bill is stalled in the Senate.