Plutonium Shipments Could Start Today

June 22, 2002

Shipments of plutonium from the decommissioned Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant to South Carolina could begin today, but federal officials said details of times and routes are classified.

The Colorado State Patrol will be examining the trucks and checking drivers before any shipments leave, said Capt. Tom Wilcoxen.

"We are out there every day already doing point-of-origin inspections," Wilcoxin said Friday. Shipments of nuclear waste from Rocky Flats have been going to New Mexico for several years, though not necessarily weapons-grade plutonium.

"A month ago they completed their 500th shipment without an incident," said Wilcoxen. The patrol does not provide escorts. He said there are hazardous waste shipments on highways every day.

The Department of Energy wants to convert more than 37 tons of plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel at Savannah River, South Carolina. The state's governor, Jim Hodges, had threatened to block the shipments.

He dropped that threat after federal courts agreed to speed up a hearing on his request for an order blocking them. But the courts said the shipments could begin in the meantime.

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