Hearing Focuses on N-Waste Shipping

Critics and supporters of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site sparred Wednesday over whether thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste can be shipped safely.

Robert Halstead, a consultant for the state of Nevada, said claims by the Energy Department that waste would likely be shipped to the proposed dump 90 miles from Las Vegas largely by rail and be limited to 175 shipments a year were unrealistic. Many of the reactor sites do not have rail connections, he said.

He also said no full-scale tests have been done--or are required--to ensure shipping casks will protect the highly radioactive material during a terrorist attack or serious accident.

Halstead, testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the Energy Department’s own analysis estimated there would be at least 450 shipments a year if most are shipped by rail, and 2,200 a year if most end up being shipped by highway over 24 years.

The Energy Department recently said it is speeding up development, along with the states through which the waste would travel, of a detailed transportation plan.

Senators supporting the Yucca Mountain project reiterated Energy Department claims that in 30 years of shipping nuclear waste there has never been a release of radioactive material harmful to the public or the environment.

According to materials distributed by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade group for the nuclear power industry, a 1999 study by Sandia National Laboratory concluded the release of radioactivity would be extremely small even if a waste shipment cask were hit by a “high-energy weapon.”

Halstead said there were 11 transportation accidents involving used nuclear fuel shipments between 1957 and 1964, including several involving radioactive releases requiring cleanup.

President Bush in February concluded that there has been enough scientific study of the Yucca Mountain site to seek construction and operating permits from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Nevada vetoed Bush’s decision, as the state is allowed under a 1982 nuclear waste law. It is now up to Congress to decide whether to override the Nevada veto.