Editorial: No real plan for hauling nuke waste

Thursday, April 29, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

Safety concerns about the Energy Department's intention to transport nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain were raised this week by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. The deadly material, packed in specially designed rail and truck casks, would be shipped over a 24-year period from 131 sites in 39 states. Gibbons asked about any plans to train first-responders in the event a truck or train carrying the loaded casks has an accident.

On its Yucca Mountain Project Web site (www.ymp.gov), the department says, "In an emergency, state, local and tribal governments are responsible for the safety of their residents and responding to accidents in their jurisdictions." The department, which plans to begin shipments in six years, goes on to say that it is required by Congress to "provide technical and financial assistance to states and tribes for training public safety officials in procedures for safe, routine transportation and emergency response procedures. This assistance would begin about three to five years before shipments start."

The question, however, one that has also been posed many times by this newspaper, was about a "plan." A few sentences on a Web site is not a plan. Police, firefighters, ambulance and hospital crews and local government officials in cities, towns and villages all over the country need training -- and a real plan for receiving it.

The stark truth is that there is no real plan. And the General Accounting Office this week revealed another stark truth. Much of the backup material for the Energy Department's "science" showing that Yucca Mountain can safely store the waste for 10,000 years is incomplete or lacks a source for its conclusions. Without sufficient backup material, used by fact checkers to prove or disprove designs, there could be "adverse health and safety consequences" at Yucca Mountain, the GAO says. An insufficient transportation plan could lead to the same consequences all along the way. The Energy Department intends to apply this year for a license to operate Yucca Mountain. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should reject what will obviously be a rushed and highly flawed application.