Date: July 14, 2010
Source: EnergySolutions, Inc.
EnergySolutions Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT) said it was dropping plans to import low-level radioactive waste from Italy and other countries. Instead, it has adopted a "new international business strategy" that will focus on engineering and technical services on waste disposal overseas. The company had received withering political and legal challenges to its federal application for a federal license to import 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy for processing in Oak Ridge, TN, 1,600 tons of which would ultimately be disposed at its Clive, UT facility.
The plan raised the ire of Reps. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Bart Gordon (D-TN) who warned that the proposal could lead to the United States' becoming an "international dumping ground." The House Energy and Commerce Committee this year passed a Matheson-Gordon bill, H.R. 515, that would ban the importation of foreign waste unless the president declares it as essential for a national or international policy goal. EnergySolutions had also filed a lawsuit against the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management, which includes Utah and seven other states and had prohibited the company from bringing the waste to its Utah site. The US District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, ruled last year that EnergySolutions is not under the control of the Northwest Compact. The compact has appealed the ruling.
EnergySolutions said in a statement its decision offered the "greatest long-term value proposition" and that U.S. facilities could be models for similar facilities built and located in other countries.
PRESS RELEASE
EnergySolutions Announces Change in International Waste Strategy
Salt Lake City, Utah – July 14, 2010 – EnergySolutions, Inc. (NYSE:ES) announced today that it is pursuing a new international business strategy that does not include the disposal of internationally generated radioactive waste at its facility in Clive, Utah. Instead, the company is focusing on the long-term strategic interests of its international customers, by providing a wide range of engineering and technical services to facilitate final in-country disposition of these materials.
"As a new executive management team, we have revisited our international strategy and are focusing on developing the greatest long-term value proposition for our international customers," said Val Christensen, President and CEO of EnergySolutions. "We have determined that we can best serve our international customers by exporting our skills and technologies and building longer term relationships to assist them in developing their own local facilities and capabilities, rather than pursuing a short-term disposal solution at the company's Clive, Utah facility."
An example of this new strategy is EnergySolutions' recently signed multi-million dollar contract to provide engineering services and equipment to manage liquid and solid waste streams at a new nuclear power plant in China.
Christensen emphasized that EnergySolutions' unique facilities and operations will be used as models for developing safe and efficient long-term disposal operations in countries where low-level radioactive materials are generated. "The company's Clive, Utah and Oak Ridge, Tennessee facilities will be reference sites for building international customer confidence in safe and environmentally sustainable long-term management of low-level radioactive materials," Christensen noted.
EnergySolutions offers customers a full range of integrated services and solutions, including nuclear operations, characterization, decommissioning, decontamination, site closure, transportation, nuclear materials management, processing, recycling, and disposition of nuclear waste, and research and engineering services across the nuclear fuel cycle.
Statements in this news release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including those related to future business opportunities and strategies. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and the Company's actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In addition, other risks are identified in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in company expectations or results or any change in events.
For additional information please contact:
Mark Walker at (801) 231-9194 or mwalker@energysolutions.com.
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