[NukeNet] Defunct Reactor Core Readied for Shipment FROM La Crosse, Wisconsin to South Carolina

[Nukewatch]

*Nukewatch*
P.O. Box 649, Luck, WI 54853
May 19, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Nukewatch office 715-472-4185, or mobile 715-491-3813
 
*Defunct Reactor Core Readied for Shipment from*
*La Crosse**, Wisconsin to South Carolina
*
* *
LA CROSSE, Wisc. -- The long-defunct Genoa nuclear reactor core, closed 
in 1987 after operating only 20 years, has been removed from its 
containment structure here and loaded into a shipping canister in 
preparation for rail shipment to a shallow burial in Barnwell, South 
Carolina.

     The 1,100-mile railroad journey could take the 310-ton radioactive 
cargo through major metropolitan areas including Dubuque, Iowa; Moline, 
Illinois; Evansville, Indiana; Nashville and Chattanooga, Tenn.; 
Atlanta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina.

     The core, known as a reactor pressure vessel, is the innermost 
section of a nuclear power plant -- the heavy steel vessel used to 
contain the deadly uranium chain reaction that produces heat and 
radioactive waste in the generation of electricity. The unit is owned by 
Dairyland Power Cooperative (608-788-4000; Deb Mirasola, Manager, 
Corporate Communications, 608-787-1378, dwm at dairynet.com).

     Removing the heavy reactor core required cutting a large opening 
through the steel-reinforced concrete containment structure and 
discarding the debris. "The waste concrete is sitting on the ground, 
covered only with black tarps," said Nukewatch staffer Boinnie Urfer who 
visited the site May 11.
 
      According to Dairyland Power, the core has been filled with cement 
and encased in cement and steel, and, at approximately 310 tons, will 
require a special 20-axle rail car to ship.
      The Barnwell South Carolina Radioactive Waste Facility is one of 
only a few commercial radioactive waste dumps in the country. In intends 
to close in June 2008.

      The Genoa Boiling Water reactor's highly radioactive used fuel 
rods were long ago removed from the core and are stored in a 
seven-story-high cooling pool on the plant site, near the Mississippi 
river, in the flood plain.

     At 3:00 p.m. Saturday, May 19, the core had already been inserted 
into the rail transport canister, placed on a over-sized flat bed 
semi-tractor trailer for transport to the rail car. Transfer to the rail 
car could take many hours before the cargo is ready for its trip to S. 
Carolina.
      - end-

 --

NUKEWATCH
PO BOX 649
LUCK WI 54853
715-472-4185
www.nukewatch.com

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