At the end of September 2009, the Department of Energy announced, "U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Italian Minister for Economic Development Claudio Scajola today signed two important nuclear energy agreements that may lead to construction of new nuclear power plants and improved cooperation on advanced nuclear energy systems and fuel cycle technologies in both countries." (More on these important agreements can be found here.) Banning imports on low-level waste would be a step backward after such an important step forward to building an international market for nuclear technologies. Full Article at The Heritage Foundation