the latest on 'Atomic Train' Set for Sunday

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Thanks to Paul Ruhter for his persistence in dealing with the 
media, and, NBC. His position with the Idaho HPS Chapter is 
referenced in this article. Paul has also been quoted in many other 
articles published recently.

Thursday May 13 1:00 PM ET 

'Atomic Train' Set for Sunday

By ROBERT MACY Associated Press Writer 

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A runaway train carrying a nuclear weapon and 
radioactive waste careens out of control, creating a potential 
catastrophe for the city of Denver.  

No, make that ``hazardous'' waste, not radioactive. NBC, at the last 
minute, overhauled its ``Atomic Train'' miniseries to drop all 
references to nuclear waste materials.  

There's still an atomic bomb on board the train barreling toward 
Denver in the four-hour NBC thriller airing Sunday and Monday, 
May 16 and 17, at 9 p.m. EDT and starring Rob Lowe with Esai 
Morales and Kristin Davis.  

In real life, nuclear weapons are not carried on trains, though there 
are plans to carry radioactive wastes from the nation's nuclear 
power plants to Nevada by Train. But NBC said it belatedly realized 
that ``Atomic Train'' did not depict the safeguards that would be 
used.  

``Although it (the miniseries) is fictitious, rather than be inaccurate 
about the transporting of material we decided to change the nature 
of the material,'' said network spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.  

A disclaimer will tell viewers that the movie is not based on fact, 
and that NBC does not ``suggest or imply in any way that these 
events could actually occur.''  

The decision had nothing to do with any outside pressure, Marks 
said, adding that no NBC executive had been contacted by any 
nuclear industry representative before the change.  

However, the network last week acknowledged a letter from the 
president of the Idaho chapter of the Health Physics Society,
which specializes in radiation. It called the movie's premise wrong 
and asked NBC to add a disclaimer similar to the one the
network ultimately adopted.

But NBC had already helped fan the flames with its heavy 
promotion of ``Atomic Train'' on the air and in print.

``Where will you be when disaster strikes? Trains carry nuclear 
materials through America's backyards all the time. What if one
day ... something went wrong?'' was the message in a People 
magazine ad.

(A Denver TV station decided not to broadcast the series, judging it 
``incompatible'' with the city's mood following the Columbine High 
School shootings.)  

The film's synopsis: A train carrying a nuclear weapon and 
hazardous waste careers down the Rocky Mountains, crashing 300 
miles west of Denver. A resulting fire detonates a Russian nuclear 
weapon that had been placed on board by a disposal company 
hired by the government to dispose of such weapons.  

Lowe plays a National Transportation Safety Board investigator who 
tries in vain to halt the runaway train when its brakes fail. The 
scenario provides some electrifying stunts as the train races 
through mountain passes at more than 70 mph.  

The Las Vegas-based Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST), a 
cadre of nuclear weapons experts, is called in to try to prevent an 
explosion, or, if that fails, to be on hand to help clean up the first 
American city devastated by a nuclear weapon.  

Asked for comment, Energy Department spokesman Derek 
Scammell called the movie Hollywood hype.

``For starters, we do not transport any type of nuclear warheads by 
train,'' Scammell said. Since 1947, the warheads have been 
shipped by road ``in safe, secure trailers'' by a special 
transportation division, he said.  

``If we're going to move nuclear weapons, the component that 
would detonate the device is not moved with the device,'' he
added.

The ``Atomic Train'' scenario simply couldn't happen, Scammell 
said. ``With all due respect to Hollywood, this is going to be a 
typical Hollywood movie.''  

Still, there's a real-life issue to be resolved: the thousands of tons 
of rods of spent radioactive fuel piling up at nuclear power
plants across the country.

The nuclear power industry had been promised a disposal site by 
late 1998, but the deadline keeps getting pushed back. Now 
Nevada is fighting plans to put it at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles 
northwest of Las Vegas.  

``There are 50 million people in 43 states living within a mile or less 
from nuclear shipment routes,'' Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said in 
a recent interview. ``I keep telling people this is nuclear waste that 
would be laid at your doorstep.''  

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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