Waste Transportation

Nuclear transport risks at the "front end" of the uranium fuel chain

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:03:09 +0000

While the nuclear materials at the "front end" of the uranium fuel chain are not radioactive wastes per se, they still involve risks -- both toxic chemical, as well as radiological -- during their transport. The WISE Uranium Project (World Information Service on Energy) has documented general uranium transport accidents, as well as transport risks and accidents specifically involving uranium hexafluoride. Miles Goldstick wrote a book in 1991 entitled The Hex Connection: Some Problems and Hazards Associated with the Transportation of Uranium Hexafluoride.

TransCanada Pipelines also a large-scale radioactive waste generator!

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:57:09 +0000

Bruce nuclear power plant, part owned by TransCanada PipelinesCongratulations to environmental allies who have successfully pressured the Obama administration to postpone -- and hopefully ultimately cancel -- TransCanada Pipelines' proposed Keystone XL Pipeline for Canadian tar sands crude oil. But tar sands crude oil isn't the only "dirty, dangerous, and expensive" energy source TransCanada dabbles with. According to its website, it also owns 48.8% of the 3,000 Megawatt-electric (MW-e) Bruce A nuclear power plant, and 31.6% of the 3,200 MW-e Bruce B nuclear power plant. Bruce -- a 9 reactor and radioactive waste complex located in Ontario on the shore of Lake Huron just 50 miles from Michigan -- is the largest nuclear power plant in the Western Hemisphere, and the second biggest in the world. TransCanada entered the nuclear power business despite warnings by NIRS in late 2002 about serious financial and environmental risks.

A primary bone of contention over the Keystone XL pipeline is its proposed route over the irreplacable Ogallala Aquifer; the Waste Control Specialists radioactive waste dump in Texas also threatens the Ogallala. For its part, TransCanada's Bruce nuclear complex already comprises one of the biggest concentrations of radioactive waste in the world, embroiled in a raging controversy over proposed radioactive waste shipments on the Great Lakes (a total of 64 radioactively contaminated steam generators), and targeted to become a permanent burial dump for "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes from a whopping 20 reactors across Ontario -- the "Deep Underground Dump," or DUD, as Greenpeace Canada's Dave Martin dubbed it. The DUD would be located just a half mile from the Lake Huron shoreline. The Great Lakes provide drinking water for 40 million people in the U.S., Canada, and numerous Native American First Nations.

Ten years ago today...

admin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:33:29 +0000

...Counterpunch quoted Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps (then working at Nuclear Information and Resource Service) concerning a train tunnel fire beneath downtown Baltimore -- on a route targeted for high-level radioactive waste shipments. The risks of "Mobile Chernobyls" caused by severe accidents, or "dirty bombs on wheels" caused by terrorist attacks, are rearing their ugly heads again in 2011, as President Obama's and Energy Secretary Chu's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future moves to advocate "centralized interim storage" (parking lot dumps) for high-level radioactive wastes. If carried out, this would lead to unprecedented thousands of shipments of high-level radioactive waste on the roads, rails, and waterways. It would represent a very risky radioactive waste shell game for no good reason, as the containers would have to be moved someday all over again -- this time to a permanent disposal site, perhaps back in the same direction from which they came.

EU policy of "deep geologic disposal" still contains loophole for shipments to foreign countries for reprocessing

admin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:14:04 +0000

Reuters has reported that the European Union has set a deadline of 2015 for its 14 member states with nuclear power industries -- comprising a total of 143 atomic reactors -- to come up with plans for "deep geologic disposal" sites for burial of their high-level radioactive wastes. However, the EU admits it will take as long as 40 years to construct those repositories. Deutsche Welle also reported on this story, including on the loophole in the new EU directive that will still allow high-level radioactive waste shipments to foreign countries for reprocessing, so long as those countries also have deep geologic repositories.

Blue Ribbon Commission would play radioactive waste shell game on the roads, rails, and waterways

admin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 01:12:41 +0000

While the court ruling on July 1st against the Yucca dump is a major environmental justice victory for the Western Shoshone Indian Nation, President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission for America's Nuclear Future is advocating "centralized interim storage" for commercial high-level radioactive waste, which could easily lead to a revival of reprocessing in the U.S. The Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation in Utah, DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the Dresden nuclear power plant and adjacent General Electric reprocessing facility in Morris, Illinois, are at the top of the list for consolidation of high-level radioactive wastes for "interim storage" and/or plutonium extraction. But any "away-from-reactor" scheme would launch an unprecedented number of high-level radioactive waste trucks, trains, and barges onto our nation's roads, rails, and waterways. In terms of accident potential, these would be "Mobile Chernobyls." In terms of attack potential, they would be "dirty bombs on wheels," or "floating radiological dispersal devices." In any event, it would represent a radioactive waste shell game through major metro centers and other sensitive areas, for the wastes would have to be moved all over again, to a permanent dumpsite someday, supposedly.

Winning public support for radioactive waste transport through "red herring" miseducation

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:19:28 +0000

Government Accountability Office investigator Mark Gaffigan recently testified before Congress on "lessons learned from Yucca Mountain," including tricks for overcoming public resistance to dumps. In his concluding section entitled "Principal Lessons Learned that Could Facilitate Future Nuclear Waste Storage or Disposal Efforts," Gaffigan testified that federal government "transparency" and "cooperation" with local and state governments would help win support for dumps. He also said "Education has helped foster public acceptance. For example, DOE's contractor at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant gained public acceptance through education and training programs on the safe transportation of radioactive waste. One important aspect of education has been to dispel the inaccurate perception that nuclear waste poses risks comparable to nuclear weapons." (emphasis added) This last point is a real red herring -- opponents to risky radioactive waste transportation don't compare it to nuclear weapons risks. Also, WIPP shipments are risky, and have suffered accidents. In one, a collision spewed plutonium within a WIPP container that had already traveled 1,000 miles and had almost arrived at WIPP. Rather than contaminate WIPP surface facilities by opening the damaged container there, the shipment was sent 1,000 miles to Idaho, doubling transport risks with an already damaged container.

PHMSA has rubberstamped 40 shipments of large, radioactive nuclear components in the past!

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:07:58 +0000

British Nuclear Group America (formerly British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd., BNFL, and now part of EnergySolutions) designed this 25 foot by 13 foot “Type B” transport container for the Big Rock Point reactor vessel in 2002, and had it shipped from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania to Michigan on a 205-foot trailer. The reactor vessel was loaded into this shipping container intact, as it was highly radioactively contaminated from the experimentation, and broken fuel rods (including Mixed Oxide Plutonium, MOX) that took place inside Big Rock Point’s reactor core over its 35 years of radiologically messy operations. Keeping the reactor vessel intact was a safety measure deemed “vital” to protect decommissioning workers and innocent passersby from even worse radiation doses that could have occurred if the reactor vessel had been chopped up into smaller pieces, and shipped in smaller transport containers.Beyond Nuclear has just obtained a copy of an email from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), sent to a concerned citizen in Michigan who questioned Bruce Power's proposed shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators on the Great Lakes to Sweden for so-called "recycling" (that is, contamination of the metal recycling stream with hazardous radioactivity). DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) -- infamous for large-scale oil pipeline leaks in rivers, deadly natural gas pipeline explosions, and the cozy relationships between its top officials and the very industries and even companies it is supposed to regulate -- is the U.S. federal agency that must approve Bruce Power's shipment before it enters U.S. territorial waters on the Great Lakes.

Dated Oct. 1, 2010 and written by DOT radioactive waste transportation specialist Rick Boyle, the email documents some 40 shipments of large radioactive nuclear components approved by PHMSA in the past. These 40 shipments included 16 water-borne vessel shipments; 23 shipments by road/rail; and 1 shipment by vessel/road.

The water-borne vessel shipments transported 21 radioactive steam generators; 12 reactor vessel heads; 2 radioactive pressurizers; and 3 radioactive reactor vessels. The road/rail shipments transported 31 radioactive steam generators; 12 radioactive reactor vessel heads; 2 radioactive pressurizers; and 5 radioactive reactor vessels. The single vessel/road shipment transported 1 radioactive reactor vessel. Altogether, 52 radioactive steam generators, 24 radioactive reactor vessel heads, 4 radioactive pressurizers, and 9 radioactive reactor vessels have been transported, with approval by PHMSA.

Judging from the nuclear power plant locations where the water-borne vessel shipments originated, and the ultimate destinations, it appears that the Great Lakes, rivers, bays, and sea coasts across the U.S. were used as waterways for shipping large, radioactive nuclear components. This "normalization" of radioactive shipping risks on the waterways -- including the Great Lakes, drinking water supply for 40 million people -- could lead to the shipment of even more risky high-level radioactive wastes, which would include the risk of nuclear chain reactions due to underwater submersion accidents: water could act as a neutron moderator, just as it does in a reactor core, sparking an inadvertent criticality in the fissile contents of the irradiated nuclear fuel rods (U-235 and Pu-239). Such an underwater nuclear chain reaction -- such as on the bottom of the Great Lakes -- would dramatically worsen hazardous radioactivity releases into the environment, and would make emergency response a potential suicide mission given the gamma and neutron radiation fields being given off.

Rather than concern regarding the risks, DOT's Boyle expressed pride, bragging "As you can see, we have quite a bit of experience moving large contaminated objects." What he fails to mention, though, are the accidents that such transports have already been involved in, or caused.

For example, the Big Rock Point radioactive reactor vessel shipment by road and rail, from Michigan to South Carolina for burial in an unlined ditch, experienced a number of incidents, and caused not one but two train derailments in its wake. It seems that the 290 ton weight of the shipment damaged the train tracks in Grand Blanc, Michigan, as well as at another spot in the Carolinas, causing follow on trains to derail. Such risks must be addressed by PHMSA before rubberstamping any further such shipments, including Bruce Power's proposal!

Beyond Nuclear, and a coalition of scores of environmental groups, are demanding PHMSA undertake a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) before rubberstamping approval for Bruce Power's proposed shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators on board a single boat on Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and the rivers and canals that connect them. Bruce's proposed shipment is twice the size of the biggest radioactive steam generator shipment by water listed in DOT's email.

Urge PHMSA to undertake a Programmatic EIS on water-borne radioactive waste shipments!

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:36:24 +0000

Cynthia L. Quarterman, Admin., US DOT Pipelines and Haz. Mat. Safety Admin. (PHMSA)The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is the federal agency that must approve Bruce Power's controversial and risky proposed shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators, originating in Ontario and bound for Sweden, before it enters U.S. territorial waters on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. PHMSA is infamous for its negligence in major oil pipeline leaks into rivers, deadly natural gas pipeline explosions, and the cozy relationships between the agency's top leadership and the very companies and industries PHMSA is supposed to regulate. Thanks to 7 Great Lakes U.S. Senators, it was revealed that PHMSA has previously rubberstamped approvals for 17 water-borne shipments of large, radioactive nuclear components in the past. These shipments travelled on rivers, bays, and sea coasts across the U.S., and even on the waters of Lake Michigan. PHMSA very quietly granted "approvals or special permits" for shipping radioactive steam generators, reactor pressure vessels, pressurizers, and reactor vessel heads with little or no notice to, or attention from, the public, media, emergency responders, or elected officials. Given the radiological risks of these shipments, and the precedent they set for shipping high-level radioactive wastes by water, PHMSA must undertake a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This should include an adequate period for submission of public comments, including public hearings across the U.S. in places that have been targeted in the past for such shipments, or could be in the future. Contact PHMSA Administrator Cynthia L. Quarterman, urging her to undertake a PEIS -- including a public comment period and public hearings -- in order to fully comply with NEPA, as she assured the U.S. Senators that she would. You can email her at phmsa.administrator@dot.gov; fax her at (202) 366-3666; phone her at (202) 366-4433; or send her a letter at Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, East Building, 2nd Floor, Mail Stop: E27-300, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20590. Also, contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and request that they urge PHMSA Administrator Quarterman to do a PEIS as well. Additional information on the Bruce Power radioactive steam generator shipment from Canada to Sweden can be found on Beyond Nuclear's Canada website section.

Radioactive "cargo" on the Great Lakes would violate Haudenosaunee 7th Generation Philosophy

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:01:44 +0000

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River contain 20% of the world's surface fresh water.An op-ed in the Toronto Star by associate professor of environment at the University of Toronto, Stephen Bede Scharper, points out that in addition to being the drinking water supply and source of fisheries, the Great Lakes are also the source of emotional and spiritual sustenance for more than 35 million people in the U.S., Canada, and numerous Native American First Nations. Thus it's easy to see how Bruce Power's shipment of 16 plutonium-contaminated steam generators on the Great Lakes, approved by the Canadian Nuclear Safety (sic) Commission on Feb. 4th, would violate not only the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Spiritual Philosophy, but also the Preautionary Principle. Speaking of the Haudenosaunee, the Mohawk Nations have spoken out strongly against this shipment, as have a number of other First Nations coalitions in Ontario and Quebec. The fight now may now be moving into the Canadian courts, as well as to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. PHMSA's approval is required before the shipment can enter U.S. waters on the Great Lakes. A growing environmental coalition is calling on PHMSA to undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement, complete with public heaings and a public comment period.

KIMO lambasts proposal for BP radioactive waste shipment to traverse European marine waters

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:24:41 +0000

16 of these 100 ton radioactive steam generators would sail the Great Lakes and Atlantic, if BP gets its way.KIMO (Kommunenes Internasjonale Miljøorganisasjon, which translates as Local Authorities International Environmental Organisation) -- a European environmental coalition of municipal authorities dedicated to protecting their marine environment homelands -- has spoken out strongly against Bruce Power's (BP) proposal to ship 16 plutonium-contaminated steam generators to Sweden for so-called "recycling." The Studsvik radioactive metal "recycling" facility -- besides contaminating the recycled metal supply with hazardous radioactivity -- also spews radioactive discharges into the Baltic Sea, which does not sit well with KIMO. As also reported on its homepage, KIMO has also spoken out against the hazards of so-called "floating" nuclear power plants, as proposed by the Russian nuclear establishment (the French nuclear establishment, for its part, has proposed underwater atomic reactors for deployment on the ocean floor -- perhaps to complement the radioactive waste its La Hague reprocessing facility already spews into the English Channel?!).