Protecting Nuclear Waste in Transit

ByABC News
October 19, 2001, 3:32 PM

Oct. 22 -- Nuclear materials may be well protected at plant and waste sites across the country, but are they safe on the move?

All trains and trucks scheduled to move low-level and high-level nuclear waste have been on hold for the time to prevent any terrorist seizure of the materials.

But at some point in the near future, large quantities of high-level waste could be in transit since Energy Department Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to recommend using the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear storage site in Nevada by the end of the year.

Nuke Moving Plans in Future

If and when the Nevada site is approved and ready, the 45,000 tons of waste would eventually be moved by trucks and trains to the western state.

"Sure, it would be safer underground in one place, but getting it there, using thousands and thousands of transports is the difficulty," said Allison MacFarlane, a securities studies expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Victor Dricks of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that trucks and trains containing nuclear waste are designed to protect their cargo in the event of an accident.

And Kim Kearfott of the University of Michigan, says even if a terrorist succeeds in hijacking a truck in transit, the terrorists would certainly be killed by the material while trying to access the materials. Then the area where the transport was opened, she says, could be blocked off and cleaned up using remote equipment.

"It's upsetting to talk about, but it's also very improbable," she said. "I'm really not worried."