Chu says DOE to improve plans to ship waste

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is working on improving its transportation planning for the Yucca Mountain project, department official Margaret Chu told the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.

The board sent Chu a letter Dec. 1, saying the department had no "overarching implementation organization" to develop a safe and efficient waste-shipping program along with other problems.

But Chu, the department's assistant secretary in charge of the nuclear dump effort, pointed out in a seven-page response sent to the board Feb. 1. that the Office of National Transportation oversees the shipping plans.

The department needs to plan how to ship 77,000 tons of nuclear waste to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Chu said the office manages plans to move waste across the country as well as ship waste within Nevada. It works to "ensure the transportation system is safe, secure, and efficient," Chu wrote.

She agreed with the board's concern that the department needs to develop specific logistical plans to show who is responsible to different elements of the overall plan. She told the board the department is working on developing such plans and more can be done after specific decisions on casks, rail cars and trains are made.