[NukeNet] Defunct Reactor Core Set Shipment from La Crosse, Wisc. to S Carolina

[Nukewatch]

Nukewatch, PO Box 649, Luck, WI 54853 (715) 472-4185
May 22, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Nukewatch (below) or in Genoa: 715-491-3813
 
*Defunct Reactor Core Set Shipment from La Crosse, Wisc. to S 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 near here, loaded into a shipping canister and 
onto a rail car in preparation for 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 reactor -- 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 (Deb Mirasola, Corporate Communications, 
608-787-1378, dwm at dairynet.com). According to Dairyland Power, the core 
has been filled with cement and encased in cement and steel. At 
approximately 310 tons, it will require a special 20-axle rail car to 
ship. The company has yet to answer reporters' questions about the 
"curie count" -- the radiation levels inside and outside the cask. Gamma 
radiation from radioactive cobalt-60 causes the most concern among 
observers.
            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 Bonnie Urfer who 
is on the scene taking photos (see attached).          
            The Barnwell South Carolina Radioactive Waste Facility is 
one of only a few commercial radioactive waste dumps in the country. It 
intends to close in June 2008 except to waste from two eastern states.
            The Genoa Boiling Water reactor's highly radioactive used 
fuel rods were long ago removed from the core and are stored in a 
cooling pool on the plant site, near the Mississippi river in the flood 
plain.
            At 11:00 a.m. Tues. May 22, the core had already been 
inserted into a rail transport canister and placed on a special rail 
car. Although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Dairyland Power 
Cooperative say the shipment is low-level radiation, the transport route 
and timing is being kept a secret, as if it were high-level waste.
            (Photo by BONNIE URFER attached; more available via email) - 
end --

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

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