Dangerous Cargo

Over the years, republicans with some democratic support tried to pass legislation leading to the transport of high-level radioactive waste canisters on our roads and rail ways in unprecedented numbers. These bills attempted to create a rad waste dump for irradiated reactor fuel on the plain in front of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Pulbic opposition stopped passage of this legislation. Now the Bush Administration has approved Yucca Mountain as a repository for the monstrous waste problem created by the nuclear industry.

The pressure to create a quick fix for rad waste comes from failed policy of the DOE and nuclear industry. Continued operation as well as decommissioning of reactors will open the floodgates for rad-waste throughout the country. This is the nuclear industry's crisis. This initiative is dangerous and unnecessary. The industry driven "solution" is irresponsible and attempts to hide a monstrous contamination problem, not solve it.

Transportation of Radioactive Waste

Bush’s Yucca Mountain approval in opposition to the state of Nevada, would expose millions of citizens along transport routes. The high level waste would be transported through 43 states. Interstate and local highways and railroads would be used for the shipping. The transportation of waste involves 6,217 trucks and 9,421 rail shipments over a thirty year period. This figure for shipments is conservative, contingent upon the creation of a railroad spur in Nevada (at an estimated $355 million) which would allow the contaminated fuel rods to travel by rail. If the spur is not built, the number of shipments could be as high as 70,000.

As government agency's budgets for inspection and enforcement are cut and eliminated, dangerous waste will be shipped along our failing infrastructure. Who is going to pay to maintain and inspect our highways and rail lines when local government can barely maintain itself.? Are our communities in a state of adequate emergency preparedness?

The state of Nevada commissioned a study using current DOE information on the nation's commercial nuclear reactors where high level waste is stored to provide citizens throughout the country with an understanding of the impact.

Commercial contractors, hired by the Federal government, would transport over10% of the nation's high-level radioactive waste, though New England with a total of some 1,800 shipments. Over 25% of the Nation’s waste would travel through the Northeast including New York State. Barging of the deadly waste down the Hudson River from Indian Point reactors to New Jersey is part of the DOE’s plan. This is dangerous and unnecessary.

The packaging and shipment of this deadly waste provide the greatest risk of accident, terrorism and exposure to citizens living in proximity and along transport routes. Fuel must remain on-site in hardened storage until a permanent solution is found. It is necessary for it to remain there, pending a review by an Independent Commission. In addition, the Department of Energy should return monies in the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) to the generators to develop, maintain, and pay costs for monitored retrievable storage on-site. The NWF should provide funding to communities for education, medical training, monitoring, and other services. In addition additional monies should be available for security and counter terrorism training.

New England is turned into a radioactive waste corridor. Maine Yankee will transport 100 casks by rail from Brunswick, Maine, to Portland to Dover, New Hampshire. 76 rail casks from Seabrook station would travel through Portsmouth to Lawrence, MA; 403 rad waste canister shipments by truck from Vermont Yankee through Greenfield, MA down I-91 through Springfield, MA to Connecticut. In addition Plymouth reactor will ship 360 canisters by truck on route I-495, I-90, and I-84 to Hartford, Connecticut.

Over 357 rail shipments would travel through the Deerfield River Valley in MA. Maine Yankee and New Hampshire's Seabrook reactors will ship 176 irradiated fuel casks through the DRV. In our community alone, Yankee Rowe will transport over 40,000,000 curies of irradiated fuel and other reactor debris. Millstone reactor in Connecticut will transport its 325 irradiated fuel shipments north through Pittsfield, MA into Selkirk, NY.

NYS: A Radioactive Waste Corridor

NYS is a radioactive waste corridor for the east coast. Over 25% of the nation’s high level waste will travel through its borders. Albany is a crossroads for nuclear waste railtransport from New England
· 176 Rail Casks from Maine Yankee and Seabrook will travel through Greenfield MA to Schenectady to Rotterdam Jct. : From Rotterdam to Utica to Rome to Syracuse to Solvay to Rochester to Buffalo to Erie, PA
· 325 Rail Casks from Millstone from Pittsfield, MA to Selkirk to Schenectady to Utica to Rome to Syracuse to Solvay to Rochester to Buffalo to Erie, PA
· 219 Rail Casks from Nine Mile Point reactors to Syracuse to Erie, PA.
· High level waste and irradiated fuel from West Valley through Buffalo
· 733 Casks from Indian Point reactors barged down the Hudson River to New Jersey

Highway Routes for Road Transport

· 1,299 Truck Cask shipments from CT Yankee, Pilgrim, and VT Yankee reactors I-84 from Marion, CT to Elmhurst, PA!
· 733 Truck Cask shipments from Indian Point reactors: I-84 from Beacon, NY to Elmhurst, PA or barged down the Hudson to NJ.
· 452 Truck Cask shipments from Fitzpatrick reactor: I-81 from Maple View to Syracuse: I-90 from Syracuse to Erie, PA
· 315 Truck Cask shipments from Ginna: I-590/ I-390 from Rochester to Henrietta; I-90 from Herietta Erie, PA

ENVIRONMENATL RACISM

Sites targeted for high level nuclear dumps are on Native American land in the west. The industry wants to hide its dangerous waste problem by contaminating other communities and the citizens along transport routes.

Communities chosen for this sacrifice are poor, rural and people of color. The solutions proposed by the industry pit sacrifice community against sacrifice community, manipulate community’s fears of contamination, support opportunism, and develop an illusionary fallacy- reactors, touted as clean when operating, are dirty and dangerous if waste remains on site as an interim or possible permanent solution to the waste problem.

CREATE a safe, sound, democratic solution for the people of America.

· Return a percentage of the money in the Nuclear Waste Fund to the generators to create and maintain on-site storage.

• Honor the Treaty of Ruby Valley. Yucca Mountain and the Nevada Test Site are Shoshone Tribal land.

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should institute Hardened On-Site Storage as the preferred interim option for radioactive fuel.