Highly radioactive nuclear waste, the kind used in nuclear bombs, could be loaded up on trucks and shipped through New York State, down Interstate 81. It’s a plan that is still in the early stages of approval, and has some people worried. It’s part of a reported $60 million, 4-year deal between Atomic Energy in Canada and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River site for reprocessing. A Georgia-based company, NAC International, has applied to drive highly radioactive nuclear waste from Ottawa Canada to South Carolina. Included in that waste is what’s known as HEU, highly enriched uranium. It’s classified as weapons grade, used in nuclear bombs. Instead of the normal solid waste form it’s usually transported in, it will be moved in a liquid state. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it’s reviewing the application. The Ottawa Citizen reports that the shipment plan has one or two large trucks with large containers on the road once a week, and not in the winter. Those large containers will only have 17 gallons of the liquid and that’s because if too much is stored in one, it could self-react and burn through the container. It’s stuff like that, that requires that lengthy review and testing process. The proposed route from Ottawa to South Carolina means travelling on Interstate 81, through the North Country, Syracuse, and the Southern Tier, into Pennsylvania. NAC is hoping to have its application approved by August 1st. It would take an estimated four years to transport the entire shipment.
