Return to the Missouri House of RepresentativesWhereas, the U.S. Department of Energy is in the second year of a ten-year plan to truck spent nuclear fuel containing weapon-grade plutonium and uranium from South Carolina to a waste storage site in Idaho; and
Whereas, last year, the U.S. Department of Energy routed the nuclear waste through the state of Iowa on Interstate 80, which is less traveled and has fewer accidents than other possible interstate routes; and
Whereas, for the summer of 2000, the U.S. Department of Energy has decided to reroute the nuclear waste through the state of Missouri on Interstate 70, which has far more traffic, far more accidents and far more maintenance problems than Interstate 80; and
Whereas, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, in 1997, 6,242 accidents occurred on I-70 in Missouri compared to 1,574 accidents on I-80 in Iowa, and in 1998, 6,476 accidents occurred on I-70 in Missouri compared to 1,270 accidents on I-80 in Iowa; and
Whereas, in February of this year, the Governor of Missouri sent a letter to the U.S. energy secretary opposing the use of Interstate 70 for transportation of nuclear waste, citing the extremely high traffic volume and the large number of planned construction projects on Interstate 70 that will reduce traffic flow to a single lane throughout the summer of 2000; and
Whereas, in light of the U.S. Department of Energy's goal to protect the public and to protect the nuclear waste material during transportation, the decision of the Department to reroute nuclear waste on Interstate 70 instead of the safer Interstate 80 seems inconsistent with the stated goal of the Department:
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninetieth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby denounce the decision by the United States Department of Energy to reroute nuclear waste through the state of Missouri on Interstate 70 for the summer of 2000 and urge the energy secretary to utilize Interstate 80 for the transportation of nuclear waste; and
Be it further resolved that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for Bill Richardson, the United States energy secretary.
Offered by Representative Chuck GrahamReturn to the Missouri House of Representatives