A community of guality....
and home of Buddy and Carol Seale
Sixty-Seventh Year, Number 13, Thursday, October 14, 1999; Andrews, Texas (USPS 025-500),

DOE waste would come through Andrews...
New Mexico group proposes new route

by J Rathgeber News Editor

The Department of Energy wants to send transuranic radioactive waste through Andrews to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) outside Carlsbad, NM, to trim more than 100 miles off the present route.

DOE, Department of Transportation and state officials from Texas and New Mexico met with members of the Andrews Industrial Foundation and local officials on Tuesday to present the proposed route change.

Since Andrews officials are accustomed to hazardous waste shipments, although not to the "hot" degree of that which would come through the county to the WIPP site, there was no opposition to the plan presented by Ralph Smith out of the Carlsbad DOE office.

Hazardous material- low-level waste - currently goes through Andrews to the Waste Control Systems site in the county near the New Mexico border.

The transuranic waste heading across the border would include what goes to the WCS site, as well as "hot" material at a higher level but not to include spent fuel rods from nuclear plants.

"It would be above uranium on a radioactive level... plutonium-contaminated materials would be the major thing," said Smith. "Most of the waste would be radioactive waste like clothing, tools, glassware and equipment that have been contaminated."

The current route - from Big Springs to the WIPP site - is 259 miles, going through Midland, Odessa, Monahans, Pecos and Carlsbad.

The proposed route out of Big Springs would be 152 miles, going through Andrews to Jal, NM, into the "back door" of the plant.
The roads between Big Springs and the state line- Highways 176 and 115- presently meet the qualifications for transportation of the transuranic material.

It's a different story in New Mexico. Work is needed there on about 42 miles of roadway. "We have to have Highway 128 redone," said New Mexico State Senator Carroll Leavell.
"Plans are in the works to have most of that done in the next five to six years, but we sure hope that this proposal might speed up that time frame for the state.
"We would like to have that work done as soon as we can. This route would be good for Jal and it would be good for Andrews. We need to work together and push for this"

Smith covered numerous subjects in his presentation, including routing, inspection, shipping containers, driver training and generator sites.

Routing

DOT regulations require that shipments of transuranic waste follow the most direct interstate highway routes, using bypasses and beltways around highly populated areas whenever possible. Using these guidelines, individual states designate routes through their jurisdictions in consultation with the DOE.

"We really just make suggestions about what we want to change, and we go to communities and talk about proposals, Smith said.

And the DOE and DOT representatives aren't always well accepted.

"We looked at rerouting through Lamesa and Seminole and there was a lot of opposition... it isn't always pleasant," he said.

Inspections
Certified state inspectors check transport vehicles, their cargo and their drivers before each trip to the WIPP. Only shipments that inspectors certify as safe for travel will be dispatched. In addition, drivers must perform mechanical inspections on the vehicles every two hours or 100 miles during a shipment. Inspectors at the point of entry of each state through which the waste travels along the way will also inspect the shipments.

"We have a zero defect tolerance for inspections," said Smith. "The only way to be successful is by shipping safely. The only thing we want to leave behind is tire tracks."

Shipping containers
Fifty-five-gallon steel drums of transuranic waste will travel aboard trucks to the WIPP in special containers called TRUPACT-II (short for Transuranic Packaging Transporter Model 2). This container system, certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has passed a rigorous series of tests to demonstrate its ability to safely contain the waste, even under extreme accident conditions.

"These containers can withstand more damage than would be done in a train collision at 100 miles per hour," Smith said. "The testing is very, very thorough. They're dropped onto concrete pads, they're dropped onto spikes, they're burned for hours, they're immersed in water for days... it is very rigorous testing."

Driver training
Each truck carrying waste to the WIPP will have two highly trained drivers. All drivers must comply with DOT training requirements applicable to transporting radioactive materials.

"Our drivers are the cream of the crop," said Smith.
"Other than hitting a deer and a cow, the drivers have had NO moving accidents... and you're talking about 2,000,000 miles of travel."

Drivers must have more than 100,000 miles of driving experience, pass regular substance abuse tests and have excellent driving records. They also must receive training in how to cope with rough terrain, severe weather conditions, civil disobedience and sabotage; how to operate radiation detection equipment; and how to recover a TRUPACT-II container if one separates from the trailer. In addition, all drivers must satisfactorily complete a First Responder Course, which prepares them to respond appropriately in case of an incident en route to or from the WIPP.

Large-quantity generator sites

Argonne National Laboratory- East, Illinois.

Hanford Reservation, Washington.

Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California.

Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.

Mound Plant, Ohio.

Nevada Test Site, Nevada.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee.

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Colorado.

Savannah River Site, South Carolina.

"The majority of the material coming to the WIPP site will be out of Oak Ridge and Savannah River," Smith said. "But whatever, it will all be from the eastern section of the country."

Small-quantity generator sites

Ames Laboratory, Iowa.

ARCO Medical Products Company, Pennsylvania.

Babcock & Wilcox-NES, Virginia.

Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Ohio.

Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, Pennsylvania.

Energy Technology Engineering Center, California.

General Electric-Vallecitos Nuclear Center, California.

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, New York.

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, California.

Missouri University Research Reactor, Missouri.

Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kentucky.

Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico.

U.S. Army Material Command, Illinois.

Tracking
The DOE's satellite-based Transportation Tracking and Communications System, known as TRANSCOM, will track all WIPP shipments from beginning to end. Two communications satellites will relay vehicle positions to the TRANSCOM control center in Oak Ridge, TN, where they will be displayed on computer-generated maps. If the truck gets off the designated route or stops moving without explanation, control center operators follow up to identify and solve the problem. Authorized federal, state and tribal officials will be able to monitor this information and other shipment date 24 hours a day.