Nevada report critical of feds’ nuke waste report

Tuesday, March 24, 1998 | 11:42 a.m.

"This report is inadequate," Miller said. "Our review of it finds many unanswered questions which are critical to the safety of the Nevada public and visitors, and to the safety of residents in the dozens of communities through which this hazardous cargo passes en route from Ohio."

The DOE report followed a Dec. 15 discovery near Kingman, Ariz., that water was leaking from metal containers being trucked to the department's Nevada Test Site.

The agency said Fluor Daniel Fernald, the contractor it hired to clean up radioactive wastes at a Fernald site near Cincinnati, failed to provide strong, tight containers and gave inadequate attention and supervision to the waste transport program.

The department also said it also must improve its own supervision and internal communications.

The leaking metal boxes, measuring 4 feet by 4 feet by 7 feet, carried solid waste - earth and chalk-like silica with trace amounts of uranium.

Investigators said water that formed in the wastes seeped through container cracks that developed during handling at Fernald, then opened because of road vibrations during transit.

Arizona authorities sent to the scene found no evidence of radiological contamination or a public health threat. But the shipment was brought back to Fernald for the investigation, and the department temporarily halted waste shipments from Fernald to the Nevada site.

"The DOE report has been completed, but not to the satisfaction of the state of Nevada," Miller said. "We are urging the DOE to maintain the moratorium on shipments until all necessary safety measures are in place."