|
|
Background: The proposed Yucca Mountain Repository for High-Level Nuclear Waste 90 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada is the only site being considered by the federal government for the storage of irradiated fuel from the nation's 131 commercial nuclear reactors, Navy ship reactors, and private research sites. Transportation of irradiated fuel to Yucca Mountain would involve truck or rail shipments through 43 states (many of which have chosen not to have nuclear facilities), within one half mile of the homes of tens of millions of people, and through over 100 of America's largest cities. Barge shipments would move through 17 port cities on the Atlantic seaboard and through the drinking water of the Great Lakes via Lake Michigan. The Facts Dangerous Transport Proposal: The Department of Energy (DOE) is predicting that 108,500 shipments will be required over 38 years. However, the exact routes to be used and the method of shipment have not been identified because they don't want the public to know. Consequences from an Accident: According to Rail Watch, the number of railroad accidents involving hazardous materials averaged about 33 accidents annually through the 1990s. Approximately 10,000 people a year are evacuated from their homes or affected by contamination from hazardous materials spilled in train wrecks. According to a report of experts (Lamb & Resnikoff, 2001), a severe rail incident such as the Baltimore rail tunnel fire in July, 2001 would cause thousands of cancer deaths, and cost $10-$14 billion in clean-up costs. According to a 1985 DOE study, a similar accident in a rural area would contaminate 42 square miles (an area roughly the size of Washington, DC), and would take over 15 months and $600 million to clean up. Emergency Preparedness: In a radiological emergency, local communities and school districts would be immediately responsible in providing equipment, training, facilities and personnel. In the event of an emergency, the financial burden incurred by rural communities would be devastating and the required resources would be enormous. More importantly, before local emergency responders would be able to accurately assess the problem, the radioactive plume would have already have contaminated an extensive area.
Faulty Logic: DOE claims that radioactive waste stored around the country cannot be adequately protected against terrorists and must be moved. At the same time, DOE's Director for Radioactive Waste Management has said that radioactive waste will remain at these sites for at least the next 40 years. In fact, nuclear waste has to cool for a certain period of time before it can be moved. As nuclear power plants continue to operate, there will always be stored waste at nuclear sites around the country, whether Yucca Mountain is built or not. Access: DOE's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) includes proposed rail routes approaching Yucca Mountain where a rail line does not currently exist. Construction of these rail lines would be the largest federal transportation undertaking since World War I and cost billions of dollars. Mixed Rail Transport: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has refused to require that spent nuclear fuel be restricted to dedicated trains. Amazingly, current regulations allow deadly spent nuclear fuel to be shipped in mixed-freight rail cars next to cars carrying flammable and explosive materials. In the event of an incident with flammable or explosive materials, the nuclear transport would be immediately affected. Cask Durability: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has not actually tested the shipping casks to be used. Instead, they have used computer-simulated tests and NRC has declared these results to be safe. Further, NRC has no immediate plans to actually test the shipping containers durability against fire, sabotage, water immersion, puncture and impact. The Risks of Being Wrong: This proposal is dangerous and irresponsible. Each time a load of nuclear waste takes to America's highways, railways or waterways, there will be a chance that something can go wrong -- a high-speed collision, a dangerous fire, a submerged cask on a sunken barge, or a successful terrorist attack, a spill, a collision, a fire, or worse. One mistake is too many. And this chance isn't so small when you consider the tens of thousands of shipments they're planning. This is a risk we simply can't take. THIS IS A RISKY PROPOSAL. HELP STOP TRANSPORT TO YUCCA NOW. Up to Top |
