"A commission run jointly by Texas and Vermont, with a membership made up mostly of Gov. Rick Perry's appointees, could decide this summer to make Texas the potential resting place for radioactive waste from 36 states.

The decision would benefit a single company, Waste Control Specialists, which is owned by one of Perry's chief donors and has assembled an impressive lobbying roster.

The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission will meet, probably next month, to decide whether Texas can import radioactive waste from outside Texas and Vermont. In a political and geographical peculiarity, the two states are the sole members of the compact, which grew out of federal laws encouraging agreements between states to dispose of the low-level waste.

The commission consists of six Texans, all named by Perry, and two Vermonters.

Low-level waste does not include spent nuclear fuel, waste from nuclear weapons, tailings related to uranium mining and naturally occurring radioactive material."

Asher Price reports for the Austin American-Statesman May 10, 2010. [2]