CLEVELAND, June 7 — BLET members are encouraged to attend a two-day Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored Radiological Transportation Training workshop at the George Meany Center from August 13-15, 2007.
The 16-hour DOE-sponsored Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training (MERRTT) train the trainer course will be conducted on the George Meany Campus of the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md.
The BLET Education & Training Department encourages all BLET members to take advantage of this important training, especially considering the increase in radioactive rail shipments slated for years to come.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has shipped large amounts and a variety of radioactive material by rail for years. The number of rail shipments is expected to increase in coming years, beginning as early as 2007, with a 38-year DOE project to transport Spent Nuclear Fuel and High Level Radioactive Waste from DOE sites to storage and disposal facilities. With the increase in rail shipments comes the increased risk for rail incidents involving radioactive material.
The Rail Workers Hazmat Training Program was awarded funding to provide training to rail workers to increase their knowledge of the transportation of radioactive materials. To meet this training need, the Rail Program is conducting numerous courses and workshops.
The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is funded to provide this training by a federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) which provides transportation, lodging, and meals for training participants, and also sponsored in part by funding from the North American Railway Foundation (NARF) to support peer trainer activities.
The program will begin on Monday evening, August 13, at 7 p.m., and end at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 15. Funding for this course will cover travel costs, overnight room accommodations and three meals a day at NLC. Call Carol Rodgers at the Hazmat office (301-439-2440) for more information.
Since space for this course is limited, completed registration forms should be faxed, mailed or e-mailed to the Hazmat office (see below) as soon as possible. Interested rail workers may also call the Hazmat office to register by phone, or register online:
http://www.hazmatgmc.org.
A copy of the registration form is available here:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/DOEtraining0807.pdf
Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program
10000 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, Maryland 20903
(301) 439-2440
(301) 628-0165 -fax
crodgers@nlc.edu