RE: UF6 Truck crashes in Tenn, USA; nothing happens

[Susan L Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

The location and timing of this accident was bizarrely coincidental.  It

occurred just a few miles west of the DOE's Oak Ridge Reservation.  For

the preceding couple of weeks we have had a media uproar (sparked, I'm

afraid, by comments at my Board of Directors meeting) about the proposed

routing of the cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride from K-25 to

Portsmouth GDP.



DOE is to ship these cylinders for the purpose of processing the DUF6

into a stable oxide form.  Initial indications were that these shipments

(500 ANSI-compliant cylinders, one per truck, this summer) were to be

routed through downtown Oak Ridge.  As it turns out, this may not be the

case (this debate was good for a few headlines).  However, the larger

issue is that DOE's contractor has yet to meet with emergency responders

from the affected jurisdictions so that they can plan and train for

possible accidents or incidents.



I'm puzzled by the DOE's plan to use trucks instead of rail. 

Considering that interstate construction (congestion) season is in full

swing, it seems that rail transport would be faster and cheaper (and

likely safer) than the many truckloads would, even with armed escorts

for the convoys.



The Local Oversight Committee will be happy to have these cylinders gone

from K-25.  We just hope that DOE makes a rational transportation

decision and involves local officials in the planning process.



Susan Gawarecki

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................

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