DOE investigates low-level nuke shipment in Wendover

Tuesday, July 31, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

A container holding scrap metal contaminated with low-level radiation has been repacked and is being inspected today after white foam was discovered on a truck bed.

The foam was found under the container Monday after the driver parked to refuel in Wendover on his way to the Nevada Test Site.

The International Waste Removal Inc. truck was carrying the containers, filled with low-level nuclear waste from a defunct DOE West Valley, N.Y., reprocessing plant, to the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

West Wendover firefighters were called when the driver of the truck reported that he had spilled diesel fuel about 9 a.m. Monday, state officials said.

DOE spokesman Joseph Davis said the foam appeared after water was used to wash away the diesel fuel. DOE experts suspect the water flushed out a nontoxic absorbent material, called Waterworks, that is packed around the containers, he said.

The truck will remain in Wendover as DOE inspectors continue their investigation.

Department of Energy and Nevada experts will ensure there is no radiation leaking from any of the containers before the truck continues to the Test Site, where the containers will be buried, said Stan Marshall, director of the state's radiological health division. No elevated radiation levels were detected on the container or the foam.

"There is no radiological problem," Marshall said. "The DOE is responsible for the cleanup."

DOE spokeswoman Ellen Doherty said the agency suspects the foam had been under a shipping box since it left New York.

The latest incident was similar to a mishap in December 1997, when a truck carrying low-level nuclear sludge from a Fernald, Ohio, uranium processing plant stopped in Kingman, Ariz., after the driver noticed about two gallons of liquid running from a container. The liquid was not radioactive, but the incident resulted in a move by the DOE to improve the makeup of shipping containers that are sent to the Test Site.