An InvestigateWest review found at least 30 people charged with trafficking without evidence of selling or distribution. They face mandatory minimum prison terms.
The battle over where to put foreign radioactive waste is getting hotter in Utah, where Rep. Jim Matheson has sent a letter to Gov. Gary Herbert calling Energy Solutions Inc.'s offer to share its profits with the state nothing short of "influence peddling," according to a report by Matt Canham and Thomas Burr of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Salt Lake City-based nuclear services company has proposed a deal that could net the state $3 billion over a decade, and Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack, mindful the state's budget is $700 million short, said the offer should be reconsidered.
"It's a horrible idea to consider opening up Utah to the entire world's radioactive garbage in exchange for a share of what the company says are the profits," Matheson said in the Tribune story. "No other country on Earth takes another country's nuclear waste and I am determined that the U.S. won't be the exception."
The latest salvo against the proposal follows a federal court ruling earlier this month that limits states' rights to restrict radioactive waste going to their disposal facilities.
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An InvestigateWest review found at least 30 people charged with trafficking without evidence of selling or distribution. They face mandatory minimum prison terms.
