News Coverage
Where to truck nuclear waste?
Oklahoma highways may be part of route to Yucca Mountain
Published July 20, 2002
TULSA, Okla. - Oklahoma's position between nuclear facilities in the South and a planned underground storage site in the Nevada desert means waste shipments will likely pass through the state.
The routes for the 3,200 tons of waste a year from the 130 storage facilities across the country to Yucca Mountain in Nevada haven't been chosen.
But if current guidelines are used, Oklahoma would see its share even though it doesn't store any radioactive waste or have any nuclear power plants, the U.S. Department of Energy says.
Shipments won't begin until 2010 at the earliest, and nuclear waste has passed through Oklahoma before almost unnoticed.
The possibility of shipments has become part of the governor's race.
Former Gov. David Walters, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., has proposed changing transportation regulations to keep the waste from moving through Oklahoma.
Governor from 1991-1995, Mr. Walters has run radio ads criticizing Mr. Inhofe for his support of the Yucca Mountain repository and highlighting potential dangers if a waste-hauling truck crashes in Oklahoma.
"We need a senator who'll stand up for Oklahoma," Mr. Walters says in the commercial. "The politicians in Washington may not like it, but if I'm your next senator, they'll be looking for a different route for their nuclear waste."
Potential paths
Mr. Walters has distributed the Energy Department's map of potential routes through Oklahoma, which include Interstates 40 and 35, and data by the Environmental Working Group that 254,000 Oklahomans live within a mile of those routes.
"We know there are terrorists out there that want to do us harm, and their Number one target is nuclear," Mr. Walters said. "For goodness sakes, don't put it out on trunks and barges and put it out there for terrorists to blow up."
The commercials have roused Mr. Inhofe, who had chosen to publicly ignore Mr. Walters until after the Aug. 27 primary.
The Republican has said that the mapped routes are not final and that Mr. Walters' "scare tactics" have led concerned residents to call his office.
Mr. Inhofe distributed a background sheet on Yucca Mountain "that was prompted by his [Mr. Walters'] campaign, by the fact that he was scaring older people," the senator said. "We want to inform them that they are safe."
Mr. Inhofe said that the government has transported nuclear material for 35 years without a hazardous accident and that storing the waste in one underground site is safer than keeping it in 130 sites around the country.
"Anyone that tells you there's a danger in transporting this waste is just not telling you the truth," he said, adding that the information about shipments is being disseminated by groups that oppose nuclear power.
Remaining roadblocks
Congress approved the Yucca Mountain repository, about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, on July 9.
However, the approval didn't end the debate. Nevada filed five lawsuits to block the site's use, and the Energy Department still needs a building permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Energy Department uses several guidelines in choosing its routes, which must finally be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said department spokesman Joe Davis.
Officials talk with governors of states along a proposed route and mayors of affected cities, he said.
Safety and security, road conditions and the shortest distance between departure and destination points are also factored in.
"Under current regulations, Oklahoma does have possible routes that would be a direct route to Yucca Mountain," Mr. Davis said. "But regulations change. Ten years from now, it could be entirely different."
Oklahoma is between Yucca Mountain and both the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
