RADIOACTIVE ROADS AND RAILS?

As announced in the Fall Sierran, the Radioactive Roads and Rails campaign,
a national project of Public
Citizen and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) is coming
to Iowa.

Find out more about this issue by attending a free public workshop
September 7, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Thoreau Center, 3500 Kingman
Boulevard, Des Moines.  For information, call Jane at 515-223-5047 or
[log in to unmask]    PLEASE COME!

If the Department of Energy (DOE) opens a permanent repository for nuclear
waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as proposed, 77,000 tons of high-level
radioactive waste could soon be rolling along the nation's roads and rails.

The DOE has refused to specify which routes would be used to transport
high-level radioactive waste would travel.  However, likely routes
evaluated in the draft Environmental Impact Statement include the I-80 and
I-35 through Iowa, as well as rail lines.

Transporting high-level radioactive waste is inherently dangerous, and the
potential consequences of an accident could be devastating in terms of
public health, the environment, and the economy.   DOE risk analysis data
indicate that between 70 and 310 accidents could be expected involving
waste shipments to Nevada.

Even without an accident, transport casks would be licensed to emit low
levels of radiation, exposing disproportionately workers and residents
along shipment routes, as well as other drivers.

See the Fall issue of The Sierran for more information.

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