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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Nuke Train On Hold |
Current rating: 0 |
by Mike Lehman, U-C IMC
(No verified email address) |
22 Sep 2001
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Too dangerous to move now |
Press reports indicate that the nuclear waste train, selected to run through Champaign County because of our low population, has been put on hold due to the threat of terrorist attack. The New York Times reported this morning that all nuclear waste shipments are on hold at the moment, not just the train. Local TV and papers in Ohio reported yesterday that the train shipment of highly radioactive material is on hold "indefinitely."
An earlier story on U-C IMC indicated that the protective casks used to ship this dangerous material are certified to 1940s standards and are subject to failure in fires that could occur in an accident enroute. Temperatures reached thousands of degrees higher, in the fires that caused the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, than the 1,475 degrees for a half hour that the casks are rated at, demonstrating that concerns about potential failure raised by activists were well-founded.
National and state authorities had earlier claimed that there should be no concern by the public about this movement. Authorities had also tried to connect protesters against the nuke train with terrorism. Both positions have been shown to be unfounded. The public is left to wonder about the wisdom of the idea of mass movements of nuclear material that will be necessary to accommodate the Bush Administrations plans to greatly increase US reliance of nuclear power.
Link to earlier IMC nuke train story:
http://urbana.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1684 |
See also:
http://www.ohio.com/bj/local/docs/014351.htm
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