(The following story by Greg Purvis appeared on The Times-Journal website on January 10.)
FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Nuclear waste will be shipped through DeKalb County beginning in May.
The National Nuclear Security Administration held an introductory meeting at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday to prepare local law enforcement and emergency responders for the hazardous waste that will be transported through DeKalb County to an out-of-state disposal containment facility.
According to Sheriff Jimmy Harris, emergency personnel will be trained to deal with potential security issues, which could include possible terrorist threats.
“Nuclear waste will be transported from a facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. to a disposal facility in New Mexico,” said DeKalb Under Sheriff Ron Ogletree. “Because of security concerns, the specifics will be released on a need-to-know basis. And right now, that’s about all we do know.”
Ogletree said the material would either be transported along Interstate 59 on a truck or by railway using Norfolk-Southern rail cars.
“We’ve agreed to share any [information] about possible security threats,” Ogletree said. “This would include any potential security threats locally.”
With the possibility of security threats involving hazardous and possibly radioactive materials, Fort Payne Mayor Bill Jordan said any city would be wise to consider the risks that transportation poses.
“With [the] interstate and seven miles of railroad from north to south, we’re awfully vulnerable as a city,” Jordan said. “Fort Payne is laid out long and narrow along the railroad which bisects our town. If some calamity occurred, involving hazardous [materials], we’d have to consider how our town is laid out. With nuclear material involved, it certainly raises the fear level. We certainly need to be aware of the possibilities and take all due precautions.”
Ogletree said a series of training sessions and exercises are planned for Feb. 18-21, in part to address some of the precautions.
“All emergency services personnel, countywide, will have training,” Ogletree said. “Because of the numbers involved, each agency will schedule its own training before May. The [training] will include our deputies, as well as officers from police departments, countywide, except for the Fort Payne Police Department, which has scheduled its own training.”
Ogletree said DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Director Susan Battles would coordinate the training, including alerts on the methods and route of travel and what to do in the event of emergency situations.
“With the threat of terrorism and street gangs, we have to have plans in place to deal with security threats,” Ogletree said. “I’m sure terrorists would love to get their hands on some of this material for the construction of dirty bombs.”
Ogletree said the Oak Ridge, Tenn. facility where the nuclear waste would likely originate had once been a top secret facility built in the late 1940s. The NNSA will oversee the transportation to an underground storage and disposal facility in New Mexico, with the route passing through DeKalb County. He said the specifics of each shipment will be released at the discretion of the NNSA, and certain details concerning each shipment will be classified for security reasons.
The NNSA website (at www.nnsa.doe.gov) does make it clear that security of nuclear material is a high priority.
Details of hazardous materials transportation would be carried out according to government safety regulations.
“They don’t just throw some on the back of a truck and drive it away,” Ogletree said. “The material will be secure, and the [waste] will be stored properly.”