Radioactive Waste Begins the Trip to Nation’s First Nuclear Dump

A truck loaded with radioactive waste began a historic journey to the nation’s first nuclear waste dump Thursday amid the cheers of supporters and jeers of protesters gathered along the route.

Fog had delayed the scheduled shipment from Los Alamos National Laboratory, but shortly before 8 p.m. the big rig pulled out, beeped its horn twice and began its 270-mile journey south to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. The driver gave a thumbs-up, and the crowd of about 100 people cheered in response.

“I’d rather have it underground than sitting on the tarmac somewhere,” lab worker Hugh Rich said of the waste.

But down the road in Santa Fe, dozens of protesters lined the waste route holding placards that read, among other things, “Stop nuke trucks” and “Science or science fiction?”

The first shipment from Los Alamos to the $1.8-billion repository follows 25 years of studies, protests and lawsuits. The appellate court in Washington and a federal judge in Santa Fe on Wednesday rejected three last-ditch appeals.

The shipment consisted of 600 pounds of plutonium-contaminated trash, including clothing, gloves, booties, filters, coveralls, plastic covers and metal cans.