Good for Jim Matheson. I'm a republican but will vote for Matheson every time. Seems to be much more connected to constituents wants and desires than our rubber stamp republicans... like Hatch, Bennett, Cannon, and Bishop. I doubt that Hatch has even heard about this issue.

I don't want this garbage in our state just so Energy Solutions can make a quick buck.

Is there any question that this material is not beneficial to our health in the state? Just because we have radioactive waste in our desert doesn't mean we need more. It's bad enough that we sell our health short as it is.

Sacrificing health and the environment for a little money is not worth it. Where does it stop? When will it end? We're trying to keep out nuclear waste from our own country and now we're considering being a dump for the international scene? With this company, it's always more... they continue to petition for higher levels of radioactive waste. Let ES go somewhere else.

The fear of nuclear waste is an irrational public fear, kinda like how everybody in the 50's was afraid we'd be annihilated by martians.

The nuclear waste in question is so low-grade that you could eat a plateful of it and you would still be less irradiated than you would by a single x-ray. It's only about 1% more radioactive than cosmic background radiation (the basic level of radiation that's present everywhere in the universe, including on earth). And people will pay Utah a lot of money to store it here. Why is that a bad thing?

I say bring the world's nuclear waste here and let's store it for them at a handsome price. It's free money for storing something that is totally safe. The only people who are afraid of this waste are people who don't understand nuclear physics.

P.S. I'm not connected to Energy Solutions in any way, but my degree is in nuclear physics although I don't work in that business any more.

Here is another republican who will vote for Matheson. He seems to be concerned with the issues that affect us. And nuclear waste definitely affects us.

And a note to Larry Miller. I have not attended a Jazz game since the renaming of your arena. And I will not, as long as it bears the Energy Solutions name. It is not the type of business we want associated with our state.

If it's so safe then they can keep it and dispose of it their selves.
As for all the money it "will pay Utah a lot of money to store it here." I'm part of Utah and I'm quite sure I'll never see a red cent of it.
Lets build our own reator, use our own power and dispose of our own waste. I'd be all for that.

To put it simply, I think this decision should be based on science and safety not emotion.

I think it is very important to learn about an issue before forming an opinion on it. Many people react to something before they know anything about it. From the comments posted here it seems that some do not know what low level radioactive waste is. There is no information in the article about any increased risk to the people of Utah by expanding the Clive facility. What is the risk? I apppreciate the fact that the NRC will look carefully at public comments to identify any technical objections to the proposal. My sense is that most of the negative comments they receive will be based on an emotional, irrational response rather than a thoughtful weighing of risks vs. benefits.

Your not the same Craig that works at Energy solutions are you? Thought you were.

Benefits. For the Utah citizen there are ZERO benefits. Energy Solutions will make a buck off it, but we will get nothing but the knowledge that foreign waste is being dumped into our desert, harmful, or not.

Question from above: "If it's so safe then they can keep it and dispose of it their selves?"

The answer: Because the majority of Italey are buying into the same mindless tripe as the majority of Utah. The fact is they could store it themselves in total safety (and without paying other countries), but their people are just as paranoid and uninformed as you are!

So as long as people want to pay our state lots of money to store what essentially amounts to a bunch of plain steel rods, why not take advantage of that? Why not take advantage of the mindless masses of ignorant people?

Hello?! This is dirt. Clive can't even take radioactive smoke detectors from your homes. They are too hot for ES's permit. So we throw them in the county landfill yet they are hotter radioactively speaking. It seems everyone thinks this is melted rods or or plutonium, or something...it isn't... it's just Italian dirt.

Boo on HEAL for scaring everyone with misinformation...

P.S. I'm not a nuclear physicist or ES employee but I did read up on it and I'm informed...what about you?

I live out here and love to go into the desert. The last thing I want are radioactive materials being stored out here. Its beautiful out here to me and many others. Lets keep it that way.

If its so safe that even smoke detectors are more dangerous, then why don't you start up your own hazardous materials storage company in your own backyard!

Leave mine alone!

RE: "No Health Concerns"

Yea, just like the people in Southern Utah back in the 50's were led to believe that above ground nuclear testing at the Nevada test site was "safe".

I would love to see you eat the fist plate of it!

I am with you "SAY NO", until Larry changes the name on the building, you will not find me in it.

I get the message. I have a suggestion for all of you who do not see Energy Solutions as a responsible business in Utah. Next time you or a loved one needs to go to the hospital and have any procedure done using nuclear medicine (like radiation therapy or injection of a radioactive tracer), please ask them to place the waste from the procedure in a bag or box for you to take it home where you can store it in your own backyard. We certainly don't want to put anyone else in the state at risk by needlessly exposing them to your radioactive waste. Of course, your neighbors might object if you put it too close to the fence.

It Tooele for heaven's sake. have you seen the people that live out there? A little radiation might do them good. Maybe they can catch up evolution wise to the rest us.

Italy sure is going through a lot of trouble to get rid of its "dirt."

I'm still not sure how after "reading up on it" you reached the conclusion that the nuclear waste Italy wants to dump in Utah is "just Italian dirt."

After looking into it, I reached the conclusion that you are misinformed. The good thing is that qualifies you to work at EnergySolutions.

Clarification - They would not be paying our state you doofus! They would be paying Energy Solutions, which by the way is not taxed on the storage. The only entity making money here is a private company - not the citizens of the state. The waste may be low grade, but we the people do not want it here.

Over and out.

So this is about stuff that is less dangerous than smoke detectors? Please. And the idea that EnergySolutions couldn't take the radioactive materials in a smoke detector is a joke.

According to the EPA, a smoke detector contains about .5 grams of Americium-241. This emits around 1 microcurie of radiation.

If you look at EnergySolution's permit, it allows the company to receive upto 51,000x that amount of Americium-241 from certain sources.

Honestly, where do you come up with this stuff, "Just dirt"? Clearly, you are so well informed.

H.E.A.L = C.A.V.E.
Citizens
Against
Virtually
Everything

Of course EnergySolutions pays taxes just like any other corporation doing business in Utah. They have been storing low level waste in Utah for decades. Can anyone point to a single individual whose health has been compromised by the actions of EnergySolutions? Can anyone point to a single event that has in any way compromised the environment where the waste is stored? Now think for a moment where we would be if we did not have anyone willing to store radioactive waste in the United States. What would we do with all of the waste generated by hospitals and research facilities? It is a benefit to all of us to have a business provide a service dedicated to the safe and responsible storage of radioactive waste. To compare the waste stored at the Clive facility to the radioactive fallout generated by atomic bomb testing is to display a profound and disturbing ignorance of exactly what is out at that facility.

EnergySolutions license limits disposal of Am-241 to 10,000 picocuries/gram. If the EPA is correct (they probably are), a smoke detector contains 2 microcuries/gram or 2,000,000 picocuries/gram.

The sealed sources are for their use in their lab (as a calibration standard) and a Troxler unit (to test the density of soils), which can not be disposed at the facility.

You really need to watch those units.

EnergySolutions license allows for the disposal of up to 10,000 picocuries/gram of Americium-241. Assuming the EPA is correct, a smoke detector has 2 millicuries/gram of Americium or 2,000,000 picuries/gram, which is 2,000 times higher than their allowable limit.

The sources discussed in their license are for use in their lab (calibrations) and a Troxler (density of soil). These sources can not be disposed at the facility.

Need to watch the units.

I am qualified to make this judgement with experience in this area. Comparing consumption of a plate of this material to a single radiographic exposure are the ramblings of a complete moron. ANYONE that proclaims that this stuff is harmless is misguided and simply wrong. If it's so harmless, why do the Italians want it stored elsewhere?

I'm all for safe storage of our nuclear waste... but we do not want to be the waste dump for the rest of the world. This waste is far more toxic than Energy Solutions would have you believe.

To: Anonymous | 1:02 p.m. June 10, 2008, who said,
"To put it simply, I think this decision should be based on science and safety not emotion."

Add one other very important factor to the decision making process... ECONOMICS! Though Energy Solutions and their neocon Republican stooges would like to have us believe it will bring important revenues to Utah that the people of Utah will benefit from... well, get a grip on the truth and reality.

The revenues ALL go to Energy Solutions and their corporate executives and cadre of stock holders, not the people of Utah.

Energy Solutions has already sucked millions of dollars from the government in corporate welfare schemes that drive the insidious corporate socialism that's eating at the core of our legal system and making war on working middle class Americans and small business owners.

And, if something does go wrong that's not addressed in the scientific studies, or ignored altogether, who pays for the fallout? (No pun intended.) Well it won't be Energy Solutions because they will claim they followed the studies guidelines, all for profit of course, while leaving us the public and tax payer to pick up the tab... more corporate socialism!

As usual, there are more people with no science education barking the loudest. No wonder we're so far behind Asia and the European Union in education. Irrational fear lives on. If not for a fuel shortage, nuclear energy would still be near-death in this country. Please, send your children to college to be engineers and scientists and not philosphy majors (or pre-law).