Hazmat situation on I-40 at Highway 64

Hazmat situation on I-40 at Highway 64

www.wmctv.com

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - A tractor trailer carrying Uranium fuel rods crashed Tuesday night on I-40, creating tense moments for emergency crews and motorists.


No one was injured in the accident, which happened shortly before 8:00 p.m. near I-40 and Highway 64.


Though the driver said there is no radiation danger, a 500 foot area around the truck was blocked off while crews assess the situation.

By 9:15 p.m., traffic was again moving normally in the area.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Does this sound fishy to anyone but me? I mean if you think about it, it's kind of BIG news, yet it only makes local news. I lived in the Memphis area for 7 years and this is a densly populated area. I think things are being swept under the rug IMO. Could this be the start of things to come, terrorist attack, or just mere coincedense?

Any thoughts?

www.wmctv.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by chrismicha77


Hmm is it 235 or 238 uranium? 235 U is pretty bad, but 238 is relatively stable...

Edit: Ok well all uranium kinda sucks to have floatin around. I think that it's something that could make the news, but really what good would that do anyway? I mean just telling everyone that Uranium was spilled quite unfortunately will not solve anything. I am *hoping* that it really was nothing to worry about. If they got it cleaned up pretty quickly, I think no harm was done. Fancy-pants scientists I really do believe know how to handle spills and stuff, because they have to know how to dispose of it during a test. I am sure everything down there is ok.

NOW that being said, do I think that is more important than telling everyone about a runaway snake from a zoo? Yes. More important than a local celebrity wedding? Of course! But are there other things more important... I would believe so.

reply to post by PhysicsAdept


I can't find any other information on it, I'm sure it will be kept quiet.

reply to post by chrismicha77


It only made local news because there's nothing to tell-it's not BIG news (as you stated)....
I mean they already had the road open and cleared for traffic in just over an hour....

Well all I have to say is
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Just let the rods lay there. Like they have done in Japan. No harm. Sleep tight. ---------

reply to post by chrismicha77


Well in all likelihood it WAS 235, otherwise they'd be using plutonium is my guess. Yeah, don't wanna get mixed up with that stuff, but I don't think it exists as a gas which is what really could make it a problem. Generally, (I think) they store those bad chems at super low temperatures which helps with containment too

reply to post by chrismicha77


I lived for a time where they move these down the highway at night to a storage facility. The containers are such they can be dropped from an airplane without any risk. Unless the container is breached, nothing to panic over.

The biggest danger are the Green Peace nuts who do things like try and cause crashes. They once tried to ram a ship carrying weapons grade plutonium and broadcast to the Terrorists it's location and route. Real smart bunch those folks. They wanted to cause a catastrophe to further their cause.

Where I lived then a local group tried to cause a train wreck to break containers open. Like I said, rocket scientists all.

Once in the military I got a chance to sit in on a class with some of these guys that handle transporting nuclear waste across the country. It was very fascinating all of the stuff they do to make accidents and terrorist threats as minimal as possible to ensure the safe delivery of the product for storage or use.

Believe me the containment vessels for the shipped cargo is rated to withstand a hit by a diesel train engine at a certain speed and survive. The semi trucks look normal but are equipped with security devices for both accidents and terrorist actions and they never travel alone or unobserved.

There are normal civilian vehicles that escort but not tag the cargo vehicle the whole time with a trained crew for most emergencies. I'm not sure about now but they use to travel through major populated areas at night to avoid delays and the potential for accidents in heavier traffic.

Yeah it was probably toned down a bit but not for nefarious reasons. the cargo carriers have a certain protocol that must be adhered to and local and state authorities are normally aware of them passing through in advance without drawing attention or escorting them through the state.

That is probably why it was cleared up and moved along in a quick and toned down manner.

These were new fuel rods and they are barely radioactive
And because they have never been used in a reactor there is very little risk in transporting them and the only real danger is if there is a large hot fire. (transport truck v gasoline tanker?)

These fuel rods are loaded by hand with the workers only wearing thin gloves and the reason they wear the gloves is so that there fingerprints will not corrode the zirconium cladding over the uranium fuel.

www.sciencephoto.com...

Only spent fuel has to be carried in the big reinforced caskets because its very radioactive.

reply to post by chrismicha77

As long as they don't find any of these lying around or washed down sewers...

Once a bundle is "spent" (after 12-18 months in the reactor), it is highly radioactive. The 1978 "Ontario Royal Commission on Electric Power Planning" (aka: "Porter Commission") stated, "The extreme lethality of a freshly removed spent fuel bundle is such that a (unprotected) person standing within a metre of it would die within an hour." For decades, authorities have unsuccessfully tried to identify and secure safe places to permanently store spent fuel. When spent fuel bundles are removed from the reactor, they are placed in water filled pools "to cool and shield them until their radioactivity declines." * After about 10 years, the fuel bundles have cooled sufficiently to be transferred robotically to "high level" dry storage facilities . These temporary storage units are said to have a "design life" of about 50 years, and perhaps longer under favourable conditions. Meanwhile, some of the material inside the containers remains radioactive for thousands and thousands of years.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) says that as of December 1999, "the total number of used fuel bundles in storage was approximately 1.3 million." * In 1978, the Porter Commission report predicted that, "During the next forty years (and probably for thousands of years), the management of hundreds of thousands of such bundles (in Ontario alone), which at all times must be isolated from the earth's ecosystem, will clearly present a problem of massive proportions."

source

Why were uranium fuel rods on a tractor trailer...?

I hope they followed the DOT HAZMAT standards for this type of event, and from the looks of it I don't think they did, 500ft? its up to a 1/2 a mile or more and if wind direction is a factor then its further, and that's just from the staging area they have multiple zones from cold to hot... Usually something of this caliber they should have had escorts on all sides of the cargo, and obviously on call/on site HAZMAT clean up crews... Regardless this driver is going to lose his job.

Originally posted by chrismicha77

Hazmat situation on I-40 at Highway 64

www.wmctv.com

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - A tractor trailer carrying Uranium fuel rods crashed Tuesday night on I-40, creating tense moments for emergency crews and motorists.


No one was injured in the accident, which happened shortly before 8:00 p.m. near I-40 and Highway 64.


Though the driver said there is no radiation danger, a 500 foot area around the truck was blocked off while crews assess the situation.

By 9:15 p.m., traffic was again moving normally in the area.

(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 11/16/2011 by semperfortis because: Copy the exact headline

This is the exact problem that I have issues with when it comes to nuclear energy. The fact they have to transport the waste and other items across the country. And who is to say a truck won't be hijacked in the future.
Another source says the truck was rear-ended. What happened to the vehicle that hit the truck? Here is the link with video www.wreg.com...

It is interesting that this was an episode of the West Wing....www.channel4.com...

Only on the tv show it happened in Idaho.

Originally posted by KonquestAbySS
I hope they followed the DOT HAZMAT standards for this type of event, and from the looks of it I don't think they did, 500ft? its up to a 1/2 a mile or more and if wind direction is a factor then its further, and that's just from the staging area they have multiple zones from cold to hot... Usually something of this caliber they should have had escorts on all sides of the cargo, and obviously on call/on site HAZMAT clean up crews... Regardless this driver is going to lose his job.

He was rear-ended. I know when trucks haul this stuff, there is a lookout vehicle that travels behind them that is to make sure the trucks are not hijacked.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by chrismicha77

 

The biggest danger are the Green Peace nuts

Ahh yes, Green Peace. Reminds of the days in the military where a Green Peace ship would get a little too close to us and start their protesting. The result: Operation Waterfall. Man the fire hoses and commence to filling their smoke stacks up and disabling their engines. FUN FUN FUN.

reply to post by chrismicha77


I live in the area and was initially quite concerned. After further investigation I learned that this was barely even an accident (for the semi). A small vehicle rear-ended the semi. The small vehicle had damage but the semi was fine. The materials on board were undisturbed. Luckily no one had to perform a cover-up this time.

My question was why were they on a semi and where might they have been going?

Originally posted by e11888
Why were uranium fuel rods on a tractor trailer...?

To move them to their destination. Same reason everything is moved on trucks I think.