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Speaking of trucks....[



A couple of 'highway safety' things:



1.  The amount of energy that can be generated from

one truckload of nuclear fuel is equivalent to

multiple truckloads of coal.  I don't know the number

offhand.  [There would be two "truckloads" if Yucca

Mountain goes ahead: one going into the generating

plant and one going out several years later].  In

effect, one megawatt of coal generating capacity puts

more trucks on the road than does one megawatt of

nuclear, although it is true that some coal generating

plants are located close to coal mines with a short

rail line to transport the coal.  



2.  Speaking of hazards of trucks...  



Photo: http://www.wdef.com/MGBITC4YSYC.html



Something to think about: If there are lots of low

speed side roads or public transportation available,

commuters have choices to avoid high speed interstate

travel when it's foggy.  If there are few side roads

available, the commuters have little choice except to

be exposed to the risk.  Their only realistic choice

concerning freeway travel is to make their risk

reduction decisions at the time they select a home or

apartment.



How often is the detailed risk assessment used for

nuclear power used concerning traffic?



~Ruth 2



==================================================



Four Motorists Killed in Ga. Pileup



==================================================



Source: Associated Press



Publication date: 2002-03-14



RINGGOLD, Ga. (AP) - More than 100 vehicles piled up

in a chain-reaction crash on a foggy interstate in

northwest Georgia on Thursday, killing at least four

people, authorities said. 



Several hours after the accident, three bodies were

still in mangled vehicles and one had been removed

from the scene, Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers   

     said. Thirty-nine injured people were taken to

hospitals, 15 of them with major injuries. 



Earlier, officials had said 10 people died in the

crash. Summers revised that number to five and then

four. 



The accident happened about 7:50 a.m. on Interstate 75

just south of Chattanooga, Tenn., said Karlene Barron,

spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of

Transportation. 



Authorities said visibility was low due to heavy fog

when two tractor-trailers in southbound lanes

apparently made contact, sending one across the median

where it flipped onto its side. The truck hit several

northbound vehicles, and dozens of other vehicles then

plowed into the pile. In all, about 125 vehicles were

involved in the wreck. 



The interstate was closed in both directions after the

crash. 



Summers said he didn't expect charges would be filed

against the truck drivers. 



"It did not appear that there was any fault other than

fog," he said. "This was an act of nature." 



Each morning, thousands of commuters who live in

northwest Georgia head north to work in and around

Chattanooga. 



Rhonda Frix, an employee at Catoosa Utility in

Ringgold, said she avoided I-75 Thursday, partly

because the fog was so thick. 



"It was almost zero visibility out there," Frix said.

"It was worse this morning than it has been in a long

time." 



Thursday's crash happened about 40 miles from the site

of a 1990 pileup that killed 12 people, prompting

Tennessee officials to install a fog detection system

on that stretch of the highway. 



                                                    

The Associated Press News Service

                                                  

Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press

                                                      

All Rights Reserved



===================================================

 

http://home.trivergent.net/article.php?catID=18&link_text=/pages/trivergent/Story.nsp?story_id=28529180&ID=trivergent







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