Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Agency plans special trains for waste site

Department decides Yucca Mountain should use dedicated rail service

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department said Monday it plans to ship nuclear waste to Nevada using dedicated railroad service rather than on trains that would carry other cargo too.

The department, announcing part of its Yucca Mountain transportation policy, cited safety, security and cost benefits to using trains devoted solely to radioactive spent fuel in its shipping program for the proposed repository.

A two-page policy statement indicated mixed-cargo trains might be used in some instances, but the agency plans to use dedicated rail "for its usual transport" of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Several other issues remain outstanding, such as the Energy Department's plans to transport nuclear waste within Nevada and what type of protective casks will encase the radioactive materials during transport.

An environmental impact study of a 318-mile railroad corridor from Caliente to the repository site in Nye County was expected in the spring but will be delayed until next year while government officials seek to address concerns of ranchers along the corridor, Energy Department spokesman Allen Benson said.

The Association of American Railroads had urged the agency to ship nuclear waste on dedicated trains, which it said offered advantages such as not needing to be switched often at rail yards and being able to use advances in safety technology.

The decision to use dedicated trains "was inevitable given national security and logistical considerations," said David Blee, executive director of the U.S. Transport Council, a nuclear waste shipping coalition.

The agency said dedicated trains could travel faster to Nevada and enable the project to operate with fewer rail cars and fewer casks because equipment would not sit idle at rail yards.

"Analyses indicated the primary benefit is the significant cost savings over the lifetime of the Yucca Mountain Project," the agency said. No figures were given.

The agency's estimate is 3,500 rail shipments of radioactive spent fuel from commercial power plants and nuclear waste from government weapons plants.

Robert Halstead, a transportation expert working for Nevada, said the the policy falls short of the "total commitment" to dedicated rail that had been urged by the state and the rail industry.

Halstead said the numbers of shipments could be larger depending on the configuration of the dedicated trains.

He challenged one of the department's safety arguments and said dedicated trains would not cut significantly into "dwell time" during which radioactive waste would sit at rail yards in Chicago; Memphis or Nashville, Tenn.; or Texas awaiting other nuclear cargo to fill out a trainload for the journey west.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., contended use of dedicated trains will make them bigger targets for attack.

"The recent attacks in London and last year's train bombings in Madrid should be a stark reminder of the vulnerability of America's rail system," Berkley said. "Unfortunately, the Bush administration appears perfectly content to move forward on a plan that will paint a giant bull's eye on shipments of nuclear waste and on the communities through which they will pass."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Energy Department was putting the cart before the horse.

"What the Department of Energy seems to be missing is that they have nowhere to ship the waste," Reid said in a statement. "Yucca Mountain is never going to open."