Initial Legs of Nuclear-rod Journey Go Well

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a 290-ft freighter carrying nuclear waste crossed San Francisco Bay on July 21 and docked without incident at the Concord Naval Weapons Station. Thereafter three 26-ton steel casks containing spent nuclear fuel rods from a South Korean reactor were loaded onto a train. The six-car train, after arriving early on July 22 at Martinez (CA) switched to a northbound track for routing to a storage site in Idaho.

Safety experts tested the cargo for radiation leakage both on board the ship and once it was placed on the train. The Chronicle reported that no leak was found.

The Chronicle report said that government officials have said they are obligated to ship the waste from South Korea under a 40-year international treaty. They estimate the risk of a cask breach at one in a billion. The newspaper reported that scores of coast guard, federal, and county officials monitored the shipment's progress.

The shipment reportedly is the first of five from seven Asian countries scheduled to pass through Concord by 2009.