Judge stops Utah's EnergySolutions from buying rival nuclear-waste disposal company

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Dover, Del. • A federal judge in Delaware has blocked Salt Lake City's EnergySolutions from buying a competing Texas-based nuclear waste disposal company.

The judge on Wednesday ruled in favor of the U.S. Justice Department in an antitrust lawsuit aimed at blocking Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions' planned $367 million acquisition of rival Waste Control Specialists, based in Dallas.

The Justice Department filed suit in November, claiming that the proposed acquisition would combine the only two licensed commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities for 36 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

The government argued that the proposed acquisition would lead to higher prices, lower quality service, and less innovation in the industry.