The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has cancelled the first of the two nuclear waste coming from commercial reactors out of state that it plans to ship to the Idaho National Laboratory, according to a report from ABC News.
The DOE cancelled the first shipment due to federal and state officials' inability to come to terms on a waiver to a 1995 agreement.
ABC News adds that the agreement ties the shipment that the agency plans to send to Idaho to nuclear waste cleanup.
The DOE is currently in violation of the agreement due to its failure to convert 900,000 gallons of liquid waste into solid form.
ABC News adds that Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in a statement that he is disappointed with the current developments.
"I'm disappointed that a shipment of spent fuel rods is being taken to a facility other than the Idaho National Laboratory," he said. "But even more disappointing is the Department of Energy's decision not to participate in direct and meaningful negotiations that could have led to a resolution that served the interests of all parties."
Wasden said that he would have signed a one-time, conditional waiver to allow the shipment in Idaho if the DOE can show that the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit can process the liquid waste, according to ABC News.
The first proposed shipment, which was initially set for August, was coming from the Byron Nuclear Power Station in Illinois.
Reuters adds that the proposed plan has drawn protests from two former governors of Idaho with one of them even filing a lawsuit.
Cecil Andrus, a Democrat who served four terms as governor of Idaho, filed the lawsuit last month, seeking information that he believes the DOE is hiding about the proposal.
Reuters adds that Andrus said at the time of the filing that he suspected the DOE's intent was to turn research facility into a nuclear dump.
This is due to the absence of a permanent place to dump high-level radioactive waste in the U.S.
Reuters adds that former Governor Phil Batt, a Republican, was the other governor who protested the proposal of shipping nuclear waste to Idaho.
ABC News adds that the second shipment, 25 spent nuclear fuel rods weighing about 100 pounds, is scheduled for January 2016.
DOE said that they will be working closely with the state of Idaho to move forward with the second shipment.
