By Jessica Dye

Law360, New York (December 03, 2009, 1:53 PM ET) -- The U.S. House of Representatives has signed off on legislation to prohibit certain foreign-generated, low-level radioactive waste from being imported into the country for permanent disposal.

The Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, sponsored by Rep. Barton Gordon, D-Tenn., was approved on Wednesday by a vote of 309-112.

If enacted, the bill would ban the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing foreign countries' importation of low-level nuclear waste — generated by nuclear plants, hospitals, universities and other institutions — into the U.S. for disposal purposes, unless the president...