NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A loophole in a Tennessee law could be opening wider than ever, allowing more radioactive dumping to occur.

Video: Italian Radioactive Waste Headed To Tennessee?

The biggest company for processing nuclear waste is asking permission to import the biggest shipment on record from Italy.

The company in question, Energy Solutions, is a new player on the New York Stock Exchange.

Two months ago they asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to bring tons of radioactive waste into Tennessee.

"It's a lot of waste, 20,000 tons, which is a million per cubic feet," said Rep. Bart Gordon.

"Why is it coming here? Because this is where the companies are that are doing these processes," said Diane D'Arrigo of the Nuclear Information Resource Service.

At public meetings held this summer, Energy Solutions is one of several companies in Tennessee that defended their practice of dumping low-level waste into landfills.

When the state put a temporary stop to the dumping, the processors claimed that after treatment the radioactive rubble was no longer dangerous.

The companies claimed that with burial space scarce in the U.S. for the material, it was prudent to dump it cheaply in Tennessee.

"It makes you wonder if there's a limited amount of space for waste, why are we wasting it with foreign radioactive material when we have more than we need here in the United States," said U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon.

Furthermore, there are questions why the companies were granted an even bigger share of this risky business to a firm competitors said already has a monopoly.

"One company in the U.S., Energy Solutions, controls virtually all of the disposal space. They have a monopoly and they charge much, much more than a reasonable rate for waste disposal,” said nuclear processor Art Palmer.

The concession over the summer to quit dumping radioactive waste at Rutherford County’s Middlepoint landfill may not make a dent in the overall situation in what ends up in Tennessee's soil.

"Who thought it was over? It's not over. The state of Tennessee is licensing a dozen or more companies to import radioactive waste from around the country, and now clearly around the world. If it wasn't an industry your state licensed, the federal government wouldn't have any place to be importing waste to," said D'Arrigo.

"I don't want to see Tennessee wind up as the nuclear storage ground for the nation, much less the world," said Gordon.

A decision from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected within six months. On Thursday, Gordon sent a letter of strong opposition to the NRC.

Energy Solutions has asked that names, locations and other information be deleted from its application before it is released to the public.

Critics of the company cited that one of the key problems of this industry was its secrecy.