"Mobile Chernobyl" - High-Level Radioactive Waste Transport



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The same material that blew apart and burned during the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986 – highly radioactive, irradiated nuclear fuel – would be transported through countless communities across the U.S. if the nuclear establishment gets its way. The U.S. Department of Energy proposes shipping tens of thousands of trucks, trains and barges carrying irradiated nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste through 45 states and the District of Columbia. DOE wants to dump these highly radioactive wastes at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. A nuclear utility consortium called Private Fuel Storage, LLC proposes shipping 4,000 irradiated nuclear fuel railcars to Skull Valley, Utah for "temporary storage." Such proposals dwarf the 2,500 to 3,000 irradiated nuclear fuel shipments that have taken place in the U.S. since the beginning of the Nuclear Age well over 50 years ago.

Each truck-sized container would hold up to 40 times the long-lasting radioactivity released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The much larger train/barge containers would each hold over 200 times Hiroshima’s long-lasting radioactivity.

These shipping containers are vulnerable to severe accidents. Even a fraction of a single shipping container’s radioactive cargo escaping into the environment could prove catastrophic for an entire area downwind and downstream. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not even require them to undergo full-scale physical safety testing! The containers are also vulnerable to terrorist attack, making them massive “dirty bombs on wheels.”

NIRS and its grassroots allies across the country have won a tremendous victory in keeping these unprecedented numbers of high-level radioactive waste shipments off the roads, rails, and waterways thus far. But the nuclear establishment is pushing harder than ever to launch these "Mobile Chernobyls" through our communities, and we need YOUR help in stopping them dead in their tracks.

Nuclear Waste Transportation Route Maps - Will high-level nuclear waste be on the roads and rails near your home?

Public Citizen Factsheet -The nuclear industry wants you to believe that shipping nuclear waste to a dump at Yucca Mountain is safe. But current nuclear waste transport casks have never been physically tested! The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s performance requirements are outdated and dangerously underestimate today’s worst-case accident scenarios.

State of Nevada's website for their Nuclear Waste Project Office

The State of Nevada has a list of reported incidents involving Spent Nuclear Fuel Shipments from 1949 to 1996

Fact Sheets (prepared by NIRS and Critical Mass):
Get the Facts on Nuclear Waste Transportation
Get the Facts on Property Values and Nuclear Waste Transportation
Get the Facts about Yucca Mountain, Nevada and Nuclear Waste
Get the Facts on High-Level Radioactive Waste
Are Your Emergency Responders Prepared for a Nuclear Waste Accident?

Mobile Chernobyls through YOUR town?! Type in an address at the following web site to see how close to your home, school, work, hospital, place of worship, or other place you care about is to a road or rail route targeted for irradiated nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste shipments to Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/nuclearwaste/find_address.php

2006

In one day, 80+ organizations signed this letter to Senate Appropriations Committee opposing centralized “interim” surface storage of high-level radioactive waste. June 29, 2006
New report from Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads Campaign: Is a Mobile Chernobyl converging on the Southeast? The Bush administration's GNEP project could bring high-level waste--from all across the world--to the South, with the Asheville, North Carolina area in the center of the crosshairs. June 28, 2006
Safety and Security Concerns about Derailment in Clare County, Michigan of Train Hauling Atomic Waste from Consumers Energy: Inconsistencies Raise Questions about Emergency Preparedness. NIRS press release. June 20, 2006.
Radioactive Wreck: The Unfolding Disasters of U.S. Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Policies. March, 2006.

2005

Whistling In The (Radioactive) Dark? a second article by Mike Hopping on nuclear transports in Western North Carolina. January 2006
Investigative Report on Nuclear Transports in Western North Carolina by Mike Hopping December 2005
Train Accident in SC Sends Reminder that Nuclear Waste Crash Would Mean Permanent Evacuation. NIRS press release, January 7, 2005.

2004

New! Information on the shipment of high-level radioactive waste through Takoma Park, Maryland, December 15, 2004: The U.S. Department of Energy has targeted Takoma Park as a transportation route for high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) bound for its proposed national dump-site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The CSX railway, immediately next to the Takoma Metro Station, would carry up to nearly 2,000 “truck” containers (truck-sized containers loaded “piggy-back” upon train cars) and/or over 300 much larger “train” containers, of HLRW through town. A single accident or terrorist attack could release catastrophic amounts of radioactivity. Because the waste is so radioactive, emanating gamma radiation like a mobile x-ray machine that cannot be turned off, even “routine,” accident-free shipments would still deliver a potentially harmful radiation dose to innocent bystanders. Help stop these “Mobile Chernobyls” before they start by contacting Kevin Kamps at NIRS at 202.328.0002 ext. 14, or emailing him at kevin@nirs.org. Go to http://www.ewg.org/reports/nuclearwaste/find_address.php and type in your address to see how close you are to a proposed high-level radioactive waste transport route.
New! NIRS Southeast Office Local Nuclear Transport Factsheet -- model for other communities
Transcript of Southern Conversation (on WNCW--Western North Carolina NPR affiliate) discussion of nuclear shipments through Western North Carolina, Mary Olson & Dr. Lew Patrie. October 2004.
New! What if today’s train derailment in Detroit had involved high-level radioactive waste? NIRS press release. October 25, 2004.
New! NIRS factsheets on barge shipments of deadly high-level radioactive waste on waterways by state (September 28, 2004):

Summary of Oscar Shirani’s Allegations of Quality Assurance Violations Against Holtec Storage/Transport Casks. July 22, 2004.
Dr. Ross Landsman, NRC dry cask inspector for the Midwest regional office headquartered in Chicago, wrote this memo to his superiors expressing his full support for whistleblower Oscar Shirani’s quality assurance allegations against the Holtec storage/transport casks (handwritten notes by Oscar Shirani, mentioning the devious manner in which Exelon Nuclear orchestrated his firing and defending itself against his wrongful termination lawsuit. .
Great Lakes United Resolution Against Barge Shipments of High-Level Radioactive Waste on the Great Lakes. June 2004.”
Class action lawsuit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Company regarding dangers of hazardous and radioactive waste transportation, May, 2004.
NIRS comments on the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Alignment, Construction, and Operation of a Rail Line to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada” [Federal Register,Vol. 69, No. 68, Thursday, April 8, 2004, pages 18565 to 18569], submitted June 1, 2004.

2003

“Spotlight Shined on Secretive Radioactive Reactor Shipment.” NIRS article written November 18, 2003, published in the Nukewatch “Pathfinder” newsletter of December, 2003.
NIRS and environmental coalition press releaseConcerns Raised on Radioactive Nuclear Reactor Shipped through Southeast for Burial in South Carolina, October 28, 2003.
Highly-Radioactive Nuclear Reactor Moving from Michigan Through Several States an Route to South Carolina Dump, News from NIRS, October 7, 2003.

2002

Fact sheet handed to U.S. Senators as they walked through the U.S. Capitol lobby on their way to vote urging them to sustain the State of Nevada’s veto of the high-level radioactive waste dump targeted at Yucca Mountain, July 9, 2002
NIRS letter sent to U.S. Senators from Great Lakes states on the day of the vote to sustain or override Nevada’s veto against the Yucca Mountain dump, July 9, 2002. (see also Great Lakes United Resolution on Yucca Mountain. June 2002.)
The 2002 Radioactive Roads & Rails Wagon Train Tour is Underway!
NIRS has a wagon train of mock nuclear waste casks touring proposed U. S. Dept. of Energy high level atomic waste tranportation routes across America targeted for sending shipments to the Yucca Mountain dump in Nevada-
Press Release. June 2002.
Bush Administration Stops One Dirty Bomber, But Targets U.S. Cities With Largest Dirty Bomb Program In History. NIRS Press Release. June 11, 2002.
NIRS action alert in opposition to Mobile Chernobyl shipments through Michigan. June 26, 2002
What if the Potterville, Michigan Train Derailment Had Involved High-Level Nuclear Waste?: Detroit Edison's Highly Radioactive Fermi Nuclear Plant Waste Could Travel Grand Trunk Western Railway. NIRS Press Release. May 29, 2002
Barge rams bridge in deadly Oklahoma interstate highway disaster. But what if high-level radioactive waste had been involved? May 26, 2002
NIRS Fact Sheets: A Brief History of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Shipments: Atomic Waste Transport “Incidents” and Accidents the Nuclear Power Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know About, May 16, 2002 and Hot Cargo!- Nuclear Waste Transportation
NIRS letter to the U.S. House of Representatives urging that Nevada’s veto against the Yucca dump be sustained. April 30, 2002.
Security Breach on Nuclear Waste Train. NC WARN Press Release. April 30, 2002.
NIRS mock “Mobile Chernobyl” circled U.S. Capitol on 16th anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe to protest impending vote in U.S. House of Representatives on Yucca Mountain dump and risky atomic waste transportation. April 25, 2002
When It Comes To Atomic Waste Transportation, We All Live In Nevada. March 4, 2002.
Note on the Difficulty of Obtaining Nuclear Waste Transport Route Maps from DOE, January 23, 2002

2001

Radioactive Roads and Rails, Part II will take place during 2001. Current plans are to visit 10 states. June 18th 2001 Nuclear Waste Cask Tour!You can get involved in the tour! Download and sign (and get your friends to sign) this petition opposing use of Native American lands in Utah for high-level atomic waste storage!
Five Initial Observations by Gorleben International Peace Team on the human rights situation in Wendland, Germany during the transport of high-level radioactive waste, November 17, 2001. NIRS’ Kevin Kamps served as a GIPT human rights monitor. (for more on past activities at German waste transports, check here)
Gorleben International Peace Team (GIPT) press release, “The Peaceful Atom? International Team Observes Human Rights Violations during Radioactive Waste Shipment to Gorleben,” November 17, 2001. NIRS’ Kevin Kamps served as a GIPT human rights monitor during the police crackdown on resistance against the shipment of high-level radioactive waste to Gorleben, Germany.
Press release: U.S. atomic waste transport train postponed for security reasons, October 25, 2001
Despite new fear of terrorism, DOE railroads Mobile Chernobyl decision toward approval. NIRS article on the terrorist threat to high-level radioactive waste shipments, September 20, 2001
Nuclear waste train headed through Illinois, (Courier Press, August 6, 2001)
Kevin Kamps is quoted in the July 30, 2001 Issue of Newsweek.
What If Baltimore Train Tunnel Fire Had Involved High-Level Nuclear Waste? Press Release. July 21, 2001
Press Release - Mock Radioactive Waste Cask Tour at West Valley - Learn the Lessons of West Valley and Idaho National Labs- Funds for Cleanup-Not more nuclear waste!(July 6, 2001)

2000

Protest Against Dumping Nuclear Wastes on Native American Lands Held at University of Michigan, NIRS press release, October 26, 2000.
“Expedited motion” filed by a coalition of concerned citizens, environmental organizations, and Native American/First Nation tribes against U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson regarding the “Parallex” shipment of experimental weapons-grade plutonium mixed oxide fuel from Los Alamos Nuclear Lab in New Mexico, through Michigan, to Chalk River Nuclear Lab, Ontario, Canada, March, 2000.
NIRS sponsored “People’s Hearing on High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation,” held at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, January 29, 2000.
Why Yucca Mountain Will Fail as a Nuclear Waste Repository. NIRS fact sheet (written by Mary Olson, NIRS Southeast), January 10, 2000.
Concerned Citizens Protest Plans to Transport High-Level Nuclear Waste Through Utah, NIRS press release, January 7, 2000.
Why We Call It Mobile Chernobyl. NIRS fact sheet, January 2000.
On July 3, 2000, NIRS and Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Project launched the Radioactive Roads and Rails Tour through the Heartland of America. From July 3 through August 6 (Hiroshima Day), NIRS drove a full-size mock atomic waste cask from Michigan to the proposed permanent nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Traveling along highways that will experience tens of thousands of real such casks, if nuclear industry-sponsored "Mobile Chernobyl" legislation becomes law, the tour brought attention to the very real public health and safety risks of such transport--and the fact that Yucca Mountain is an scientifically-inappropriate site fora nuclear waste dump in the first place. The tour also stopped in Utah,where a number of private nuclear utilities want to build a "temporary" site for their own atomic waste. The utilities are more aware than anyone of just how hazardous this material is: that's why they will stop at nothing to move it out of their own backyards--where they are responsible for it--and on to the highways and railways to an inadequate site: where taxpayers may be liable for the consequences. A second tour was held in 2001, and Public Citizen held press conferences, rallies and other activities in numerous states. The initial tour diary is below, along with lots of background information on radioactive waste transportation.

Tour Press Release
Tour schedule (1st leg, July 3-August 6)
Press release for Indiana stop of tour

Tour Diary:
July 3-4, 2000
July 5-12, 2000
July17-28, 2000
July29-31, 2000
Final diary entry, August 1-4, 2000

Photos from the Radioactive Roads and Rails Tour

1995-1999

You can find background materials on previous versions of the Mobile Chernobyl legislation here.

Get your local community to pass a resolution opposing nuclear waste shipments through it! - Sample Resolution

Several jurisdictions have passed resolutions or taken other action against dangerous and unnecessary radioactive waste transportation based on the sample below. These include:

Year 2000 Las Vegas, Nevada ordinance making it illegal to ship high-level radioactive waste through the city

Great Lakes United Resolution Against Barge Shipments of High-Level Radioactive Waste on the Great Lakes;

Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, and the city of Santa Barbara, CA;

Denver, CO;

St. Louis (1996), St.Louis (2000), St. Louis County Council (2000) and City of Kirkwood, MO;

Philadelphia(11/30/1995), Philadelphia(01/26/1995), Bucks County, and Falls Township, PA;

Mt. Rainier, Takoma Park and Greenbelt, MD;

Marshall and Anson Counties and the town of Wadesboro, NC;

Decatur, GA;

Amherst, MA;

City of Mesquite, NV;

Fishkill, NY (3/11/1996) and East Fishkill, NY (2/9/1996);

Wappinger, NY

(5/28/1996);

United Transportation Union (2/25/1999) ;

Gary, IN 6/1/1999

;

Beacon, and City of Port Jervis, NY and more.

If you know of others which already have taken action, let us know. Join the fun, get your local government to pass a resolution too.

Image: British Nuclear Group America (formerly British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd., BNFL) designed this 25 foot by 13 foot “Type B” transport container for the Big Rock Point reactor vessel in 2002, and had it shipped from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania to Michigan on a 205-foot trailer. The reactor vessel was loaded into this shipping container intact, as it was highly radioactively contaminated from the experimental uses and broken fuel rods that happened inside it in Big Rock’s early days. Keeping the reactor vessel intact was a safety measure deemed “vital” to protect decommissioning workers and the environment from even worse radiation doses that could have occurred if the reactor vessel had been chopped up into smaller pieces, to be shipped in smaller transport containers.

See the year 2003 entries about the troubled shipment of the reactor pressure vessel from Big Rock to the Barnwell, SC dump, below.