Beyond Nuclear - Radioactive Waste What's New

As reported by Energy and Environment Daily, Mobile Chernobyl legislation is revving its engines on Capitol Hill. The Obama administration wants centralized interim storage for commercial irradiated nuclear fuel by 2021, which would launch unprecedented numbers of high-level radioactive waste shipments onto the roads, railways, and waterways.

Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps warned, in a letter to the editor in the Washington Post, about these irradiated nuclear fuel transport risks. This came in response to a Post editorial in support of rushed centralized interim storage.

Kevin put out a media statement in mid-January, responding to Energy Secretary Chu's call on Capitol Hill for centralized interim storage legislation. Kevin focused on the risks of radioactive waste transportation, and the radioactive waste shell game that would result from rushing into centralized interim storage.

Take action! Contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative. Urge them to block this risky radioactive waste shell game. You can reach their offices via the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121.

Contact the White House. Urge President Obama to put the brakes on the Mobile Chernobyls, dirty bombs on wheels, and Floating Fukushimas.

What are the alternatives? Well, we need to stop the generation of irradiated nuclear fuel in the first place. Atomic reactors should be permanently shutdown, their electricity supply replaced with energy efficiency, as well as renewable sources such as wind and solar.

For the wastes which already exist, hardened on-site storage -- endorsed by 170 environmental groups, representing all 50 states -- is an interim measure, addressing the potentially catastrophic risks of current indoor wet pool and outdoor dry cask storage vulnerabilities to accident, attack, and leakage.

Update on February 21, 2013 by

admin

While the Yucca Mountain dump proposal has been wisely canceled by the Obama administration, its Feb. 2002 U.S. Dept. of Energy Final Environmental Impact Statement still reveals nonetheless that opening a permanent repository -- or even centralized interim storage sites -- will launch unprecented numbers of risky irradiated nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste shipments onto the roads and rails through most states: see Appendix J, including national transport maps on pages J-24 and J-25; maps, and charts showing projected shipment numbers, for individual states and regions of the country can be found from Page J-134 to J-173.

But, it's not just truck and train shipments that would be launched. So too would barge shipments, in a number of states' waterways. This is because 26 atomic reactors across the U.S. lack direct rail access. DOE has indicated it prefers to ship highly radioactive waste in giant (100 ton or heavier) rail casks. To transfer wastes to the nearest rail head, either heavy haul trucks, or else barges, would have to be used.

Barge shipment maps can be found from Page J-78 to J-81. They include the following: Chesapeake Bay; James River of VA; Delaware Bay; waterways surrounding New York City in NY, NJ, and CT; Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts Bay, and Boston Harbor in MA; Lake Michigan, bordered by WI, IL, IN, and MI; the Mississippi River in AR, MS, and LA; the Tennessee River in AL; the Missouri River in NE; California's Pacific coastline; and Florida's Atlantic coastline.

As documented in the preceding links, a severe accident, or terrorist attack, upon highly radioactive waste barge shipments could release disastrous amounts of hazardous radioactivity into our country's surface waters. In that sense, these shipments represent "Floating Fukushima" risks, a phrase coined by Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS). A fact that makes the use of high-level radioactive waste barges even more likely, in this rush to open centralized interim storage sites, is that the Savannah River Site in South Carolina -- near the Atlantic coastline -- is at the top of the target list.