Gibbons demands answers to Yucca rail questions

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., is challenging the Energy Department's intentions to proceed with plans to build a new rail line in Nevada for nuclear waste shipments without first answering security questions about how the shipments will be handled.

On Monday, Gibbons wrote Margaret Chu, head of the Energy Department's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and officials at other agencies, asking about any plans to train emergency workers or inspect existing railroad tracks.

Gibbons also asked about decisions as to whether trains moving the waste would be allowed to have rail cars holding other items.

"I have seen no evidence to prove that the deadliest material known to man can be safely and securely transported across the nation to Yucca Mountain," said Gibbons, who heads the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism. "Because of the tremendous risk inherent in the transport of this exceedingly toxic substance, a highly trained team of first responders and a foolproof contingency plan is not only appropriate, but necessary."

Chu oversees the Yucca Mountain project, which would store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The letter also went to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Nils Diaz, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and officials in the Transportation Department's Research and Special Programs Administration and Office of Hazardous Materials Safety.

"We have received the letter and we will respond," Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said. "For many years, the government has shipped spent nuclear fuel across this country without a single accident resulting in the harmful release of radiation. Working with other government agencies, as is our practice, we are confident that shipping spent nuclear fuel will continue to be safe."

Davis said more information on shipping safety can be found on the project's Web site, www.ymp.gov.

In the April 8 Federal Register notice announcing its intention to ship waste to Yucca, if approved, via train and to build a new rail line, the department said the shipper would select routes and prepare a written plan listing the origin and destination of the shipment, the scheduled route, all planned stops, the estimated time of departure and arrival, and emergency telephone numbers.

State and local government would receive advance notice of the waste going through their states and those moving the waste would have to put it in containers approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The department said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rules "specifically aimed at protecting the public from harm that could result from sabotage of spent nuclear fuel casks." The rules call for the use of armed escorts for all shipments, safeguarding detailed shipping schedule information, monitoring of shipments through satellite tracking and a communication center with 24-hour staffing, and coordinating logistics with state and local law enforcement agencies.

But NRC spokeswoman Sue Gagner said the department will take title to the waste at the reactor site and only has to use a commission-approved cask and the advance notification rules. It can use its own rules beyond that, she said.

The notice said the department is considering using the armed escorts and that the security plan is still in progress.