Nuclear Energy Information Service
Illinois' Nuclear Power Watchdog for 25 Years

Mock RadWaste Casks to Transverse America

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
June 10, 2002

SIX MOCK HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE TRANSPORT CASKS
SET OFF ACROSS AMERICA TO WARN CITIZENS ABOUT
"RADIOACTIVE ROADS & RAILS"

Contacts:

Kevin Kamps, Nuclear Information and Resource Service; Washington, D.C.
cell phone 202-262-9518; 202.328.0002; (f) 202.462.2183; nirsnet@nirs.org ; www.nirs.org

Lisa Gue, Public Citizen, Washington, D.C., 202-905-7413, cell

Chris Williams, Citizen Action Coalition of Indiana, 317-445-4239 cell

Robert Halstead, consultant, State of Nevada, 608-742-3973,

David Kraft, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Evanston, IL
847-869-7650; neis@neis.org, www.neis.org

VIDEO/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY:

Colorful full-size replicas of high-level nuclear waste truck casks (dumb-bell shaped cylinders, 20 feet long, 7 feet tall) on trailers, driving actual routes all across America targeted by the U.S. Dept. of Energy for shipments to the proposed national dump at Yucca Mt., Nevada.

Interviews and photo ops are available at Loyola University's LakeShore Campus Parking Lot 3, on Albion St., ½ block west of Sheridan Road, 10:30 a.m., Monday, June 10, 2002.

CHICAGO- Like a Paul Revere ride of the Atomic Age, "Radioactive Roads and Rails" tours from New England, Washington, D.C., the Midwest, the Southeast, the Southwest, and the Northwest have arrived in Chicago to warn Americans that "Atomic trains are coming! Atomic trucks are coming!" unless their U.S. Senators stop the "Mobile Chernobyl" in its tracks on Capitol Hill.

"When it comes to nuclear waste transportation, we all live in Nevada," said Kevin Kamps of Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a tour organizer. According to a Feb. 2002 DOE report, Yucca Mountain road, rail, and barge routes crisscross 44 states and the District of Columbia. As many as 109,000 shipments of high-level radioactive waste over a 38 year period could occur if Yucca Mt. is selected, over three-quarters coming through Illinois.

"The main goal of these tours is to get citizens to phone, fax, write, and email their U.S. Senators urging them to vote against the Yucca Mountain dump," said Chris Williams of Citizen Action Coalition of Indiana, referring to the immanent vote in the U.S. Senate expected by early July.

Mock casks will travel along interstates targeted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as high-level atomic waste transport routes to Yucca Mountain, Nevada - the proposed national dump, up for a Senate vote in coming weeks. The educational tours are intended to raise awareness about the risks of radioactive waste transportation, as well as the unsuitability of the Yucca Mountain site.

"The risks of transporting 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste through 44 states and the District of Columbia cannot be justified," said Lisa Gue, policy analyst with Public Citizen, a Washington-based public interest organization. "An accident or attack involving just one of these shipments could be catastrophic."

Two casks will travel the interstates around Chicago on June 10-11, before heading north into Wisconsin. Other casks will converge at the St. Louis Arch on June 12th. . Six casks will join together in Davenport/Quad Cities on the 14th. On the 15th four casks will be at the Chicago "Rolling Thunder Democracy tour event, while two others will be at the National Conference of Mayors meeting in Madison, WI.

All casks will then travel together to Washington, D.C. for an event on June 18th, before returning to their own regions of the country to continue the tour right up until the Senate vote, expected between late June and mid July.

"Numerous myths and fraudulent claims about both Yucca Mt.'s suitability, and about transport safety have been perpetrated on the public by the nuclear industry," notes Dave Kraft of the Evanston-based Nuclear Energy Information Service. "This tour and these public events are meant to set the record straight. This decision has to last for 10,000 years, and we can't afford to be duped," he said.

Cask tour members will be available for questions and interviews at the open public forum, "Yucca Mt. - Exploding the Myths," being held Monday, June 10th, 7 p.m., Coffey Hall, Loyola University Lake Shore Campus, Chicago. The event is free and open to the public.

A day by day schedule for the six casks' tours is available at www.nirs.org or by calling Kevin Kamps at Nuclear Information & Resource Service. Each cask tour crew has a cell phone and is available for on-the-road interviews. Reporters, photographers, and videographers are welcome to ride along with casks on legs of the journey.

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Road contact numbers for various casks (to find current locations of casks):

Chris Williams, CACI, 317-445-4239 cell
Kevin Kamps, NIRS, 202-262-9518, cell
Kalynda Tilges, Citizen Alert, 702-743-8523, cell
Claude Ward, BREDL, 910-604-0214, cell
Deb Katz, Tim Judson, CAN, 413-834-2783, cell
John Hadder, Citizen Alert, 702-501-8965, cell

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