Moving Nuclear Waste By Rail, Yay or Nay???

[mudchicken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by hogger42

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

Railroads have moved much more volatile stuff than this for years in AEMX , AECX cars that look like white, chopped, low-ridered boxcars. (Example: plutonium triggers from Amarillo, TX /PANTEX to Hanford, WA)...These were not moved in the overly tested containers now at the AAR/TTC "FAST" track at Pueblo...


Travelling Feathers[banghead][banghead][banghead]

Geez MC,
I remember switching these cars in Pueblo Yard some years ago... They had lights and horns all over them....

Do you remember the incident at NA Junction in the mid-80's when an old refrigerator and washing machine dumped in the switch in front of a special Pantex move? (only to have an EB MoP train spoil all their fun)???

[wallyworld]

My only concern is the terrorist angle. Why bomb or derail a passenger or everyday freight train when some lunatic with a RPG could target a nuclear load and hit it from some distance.. I agree the real issue is securing every square foot of the route. An expensive proposition to be sure. I don't envy the tough job these folks who would do the heavy lifting in this operation will have. While I have no great affinity toward nuclear power in general, a central depository away from urban areas is the only practical alternative if it must be relocated. The only qualifier is getting the current CIA-FBI dysfunctions cured or settled before tackling this one. Great idea- but it's bad timing.

[louisnash]

I found this on Cincinnati WCPO website today. Just thought I would share it with ya'll.

Brian (KY)



Possible Lawsuit Could Delay Fernald Clean-Up

Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Stacy Puzo
Photographed by: 9News
4/15/04 5:09:12 PM
A possible lawsuit could further delay clean-up at the former Fernald Uranium processing plant site.

Nevada's attorney general is threatening legal action if the U.S. Department of Energy doesn't keep radioactive waste from Fernald out of his state.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported in a letter sent Tuesday, the attorney general threatened to file a federal lawsuit and seek a court injunction to stop the shipments before they can begin.

Government lawyers are reviewing the letter.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by macguy

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

hey, why don't we drop the stuff in a volcano in the middle of nowhere in the pacific an Nuke it. LOL

Why not just load it up in a rocket ship and send it on a one-way ticket into deep space?

Well.....with our luck it would turn around and crash back down onto the landing pad. Bye Bye NASA[xx(][:(]

[Anonymous]

Cool if im standind out side my back door here in blair,ne. will it glow like a light lamp?......no serous, id say MABY! mrlove.

[UPTRAIN]

It dosn't bother me...as long as there are SPECIAL AGENTS, and a hi-railer preceding the train boy about a half mile.

[Anonymous]

Sure I don't mine the transport going through my town.... just keep away the protesters.mrlove.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

QUOTE: Originally posted by macguy

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

hey, why don't we drop the stuff in a volcano in the middle of nowhere in the pacific an Nuke it. LOL

Why not just load it up in a rocket ship and send it on a one-way ticket into deep space?

Well.....with our luck it would turn around and crash back down onto the landing pad. Bye Bye NASA[xx(][:(]

I was stationed onboard a nuclear powered cruiser for 3 years. During my time onboard, we removed and replaced both reactors (it has 2). There is a great exposure to radiation for the crewmember out on deck than for the crew running the reactors in the engineering spaces. There are so many safeguards and you have to have so many qualifications before you can get into those engineering spaces, the people who go through them get all sorts of proficiency pay from the Navy - over and above their regular pay.

When the fuel and control rods are disposed, they are sealed into melted glass. I would much rather trust a rail car than a truck. I've seen the tests they do on the rail cars - they put them in the path of a speeding locomotive and let them get smacked. The trucks, couplers, and mounting gear scatter, but the tank that holds the material remains intact.

Unless terrorists knew exactly which train was carrying the material and which car on that train was carrying the material, I doubt they'd be able to hit it. There was an episode on either The Learning Channel or Discovery Channel about a truck driver who is licensed to transport this stuff across country. The man carries a four-year college degree, has had over 2, 000,000 accident-free miles as a truck driver, and has had to undergo all sorts of certifications. I'd be awfully discreet about securing the route. The last thing I'd want would be a bunch of guys in 3-piece suits, sunglasses, and funny looking things in their ears scoping out the route - they'd alert even the stupidest person that something was up.

As for disposing of the material in a volcano, temperatures in a volcano don't reach high enough to destroy the radioactivity. Shooting it into space has been promoted before, but the problem is the excessive weight of the materials to shield anyone working around the launch vehicles. You could easily exceed the payload limit of the launch vehicle just in shielding alone, not to mention any of the stuff you're trying to get rid of.