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Atomic Train rebuttals
I received a copy of this message from a member of my Citizens' Advisory
Panel. I think it would certainly help RadSafers address any "Atomic
Train" questions also.
--Susan Gawarecki
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis Kirson [SMTP:kirson@ms25.hinet.net]
> Sent: Sunday, 25 April, 1999 4:38 AM
> To: FIREENGR [to post]
> Subject:
>
> To DOE Field PA people:
>
> From: DOE Press Office
>
> April 22, 1999
>
>
>
> Attached is a fact sheet we have created to address some questions you may
> soon receive about the May NBC movie, "Atomic Train," The plot is that a
> train carrying both an armed nuclear weapon and nuclear waste barrels into
> Denver, making the Mile High City an inch-high pile of dust.
>
> We are asking you to keep this on hand to distribute to any reporters with
> initial questions about the movie. While we realize that this is an
> entertainment disaster movie, we expect that it will pique interest about
> transportation of nuclear materials. We are not asking you to pro-actively
> send this fact sheet to reporters.
>
> Please call or e-mail me if you have any questions.
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> Christina "Technicolor", Kielich
>
> DOE HQ Press Office
>
> 202/586-0581
>
> christina.kielich@hq,doe.gov
>
> Transporting Radioactive Materials
>
> Radioactive materials for use in medicine, agriculture, industry and
> science move routinely by truck, train, ship and airplanes. The transport
> of these materials is carefully regulated by international, federal and
> state agencies to protect public safety and the environment. Stringent
> rules apply to the transport of nuclear weapons and nuclear waste.
>
> Nuclear Weapons
>
> * Nuclear weapons are not transported on trains in the United States.
> The last U.S. rail shipment of nuclear weapons occurred in 1985.
>
> * The Transportation Safeguards Division (TSD) of DOE was established
> in 1975 for the purpose of transporting U. S. nuclear weapons, components
> and special nuclear materials, and has logged 100 million miles without
> the loss or compromise of any shipment or release of radioactive
> materials.
>
> * U.S. nuclear weapons, components, and special nuclear materials are
> moved by the TSD in 18-wheel trucks specially designed and built for this
> purpose, incorporating the latest security and safety technologies, and
> staffed by highly trained and armed Federal agents.
>
> * U. S. nuclear weapons and spent nuclear fuel (or nuclear waste of
> any kind) are never transported together. Federal regulations prohibit
> their joint shipment.
>
> * A U.S. nuclear weapon in transport does not need to be "de-fused."
> U.S. nuclear weapons are not armed when transported,
>
> * U.S. nuclear weapons are all designed to survive extraordinary
> accidents, making it virtually impossible for an unintended nuclear
> detonation to occur even when a weapon is jostled about or engulfed in
> fire for an extended period of time.
>
> * U. S. nuclear weapons are designed with security measures that make
> unauthorized access and detonation virtually impossible.
>
> Spent Nuclear Fuel
>
> * Since 1965, there have been more than 2,500 shipments of spent
> nuclear fuel in the United States without injury or environmental
> consequences as a result of the radioactive nature of the cargo,
>
> * Federal regulations permit the transportation of spent nuclear fuel
> only in a very strong robust metal container, called "Type B"
> transportation cask. Type B casks are designed and constructed to safely
> contain their radioactive contents under normal and severe accident
> conditions. Cask designs are reviewed and certified by the Nuclear
> Regulatory Commission. Test have demonstrated that this type of cask will
> survive the forces that it would likely experience in an earthquake, train
> collision and derailment, highway accident or fire,
>
> * Spent nuclear fuel is a solid material that is composed of
> irradiated uranium oxide pellets encased in metal tubes. The solid spent
> fuel pellets will not explode, spontaneously catch fire, or burn.
>
>
>
> Transuranic Waste
>
> * On March 26, 1999, the first shipment of defense-generated
> transuranic radioactive waste arrived safely at the U.S. Department of
> Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico.
>
> * Transuranic waste - clothing, tools, rags, debris, residues, and
> other disposable items contaminated with radioactive elements, mostly
> plutonium - began accumulating in the 1940s with the beginning of the
> nation's nuclear weapons program.
>
> * WIPP trucks, operated by highly trained drivers, carry transuranic
> waste in robust containers certified for this purpose by the U.S. Nuclear
> Regulatory Commission. Each shipment is monitored by a satellite tracking
> system for added safety assurance, WIPP transportation protocols call for
> restrictions on traveling during inclement weather, parking in only
> preselected, 'safe' areas, and pre-notification of the shipments to
> states, tribal and local emergency responders.
>
> * The container for shipping transuranic waste called Transuranic
> Packaging Transporter Model 2, or TRUPACT-11, has been subjected to
> rigorous testing to ensure that it meets all safety and regulatory
> requirements. The compliance tests represent both normal operational
> conditions and a wide range of hypothetical accidents. The tests
> demonstrated that the containers would remain leak tight during the series
> of tests and after completion of the test sequences.
>
> * As early as the 1950s, the National Academy of Sciences recommended
> disposal of radioactive waste in stable geologic formations, such as deep
> salt beds. Government scientists searched for an appropriate sited during
> the 1960's, testing the area of southeastern New Mexico in the 1970's.
> Congress authorized construction of the WIPP in 1979. DOE completed
> construction of the facility in the late 1980's.
>
> * The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certified in May 1998 that
> the WIPP meets all applicable federal standards for disposal of
> transuranic waste.
>
> * Located in southeastern New Mexico, 26 miles cast of Carlsbad, The
> WIPP facility includes disposal rooms excavated in an ancient, stable salt
> formation 2,150 feet underground.
>
> F-99-5
>
> - DOE -
>
>
> Pax volit. Para Bellum!
--
==================================================
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
136 South Illinois Avenue, Suite 208
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830
Phone (423) 483-1333; Fax (423) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
VISIT OUR UPDATED WEB SITE: http://www.local-oversight.org
==================================================
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