Transportation of Radioactive Materials in Colorado

In October, 1988, the Governor of Idaho refused to allow Rocky Flats to ship any more rail cars of nuclear waste to Idaho because DOE and Congress have failed to open a permanent disposal site in New Mexico. DOE's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant {WIPP) which is located 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, N.M., is where radioactive waste will be buried 2,150 feet underground in salt beds. However, the WIPP won't meet EPA standards for a permanent disposal site until 1993. Is this situation similar to the garbage barge from New York. or is the situation more under control? In 1984 Denver made national headlines when a truck spilled torpedoes in the infamous mousetrap or interchange between Interstates 70 and 25. This situation was frightening because ... \"Getting a response from the appropriate personnel took three hours\" (McGraw, Den. Post, 1988). Could this incident occur today? What are the laws concerning the transpOrt of radioactive and hazardous materials? and How much is being transpOrted across Colorado on a daily or yearly basis? This paper will answer these questions about transportation of radioactive waste. The main issues include: regulations, liability, safety, highway and rail routing.