Reid, Ensign seeking review of hazardous cargo shipments

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

Nevada's U.S. senators are calling attention to the dangers of shipping hazardous materials after the discovery of a damaged nuclear waste container on a truck en route to the Nevada Test Site.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., want a national review of hazardous cargoes and the methods used to track their progress across the country.

They will make their recommendations during a news conference today in Washington.

On Monday an International Waste Removal Inc. truck carrying seven containers of contaminated scrap metal and other debris was detained in West Wendover after the driver discovered white foam near one of the shipping boxes.

The Department of Energy checked the shipment for signs of radioactive contamination, and on Tuesday six boxes were sent on to the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The damaged container, which had an inch-long gash, was sealed and returned to DOE's West Valley, N.Y. reprocessing plant, its point of origin.

Reid and Ensign are leading a congressional fight to keep 77,000 tons of high-level commercial and military nuclear waste out of Yucca Mountain, the only site under study as a permanent repository.

The Nevada contingent was joined by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who displayed the route in which the low-level radioactive was shipped from New York to the Test Site.

The driver passed through several states before he noticed the white foam near one of the containers. He had stopped in West Wendover to refuel.

Reid said two incidents in less than two weeks brings to light the lack of a safety net for shipping hazardous and nuclear waste and demonstrates "the very real danger" of transporting such cargo.

"Millions of people live along the route taken by this truck," Reid said. "The Department of Energy has suspended shipment for two weeks from the West Falls, N.Y. site, but I am concerned about the hundreds of trucks carrying dangerous materials from other sites across the country."

Ensign said he questions whether emergency response crews are sufficiently trained and prepared to handle incidents such as the one that occurred in Wendover this week.

"Do we have a proper procedure in place to handle these incidents of low-level nuclear waste, let alone high-level waste?" Ensign said. "There seems to be serious problems with a lot of people who are supposedly trained when they might not have the knowledge or equipment."

Reid last week amended the Senate's transportation appropriations bill, calling for an analysis of the risks of shipping hazardous materials, a survey of the nation's transportation system that would include recommended upgrades and an assessment of emergency response systems, as well as the ability of crews responding to future disasters.