Multi-agency nuclear accident training in Moberly sharpens local departments’ skills
MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Local, state and federal agencies practiced their response Wednesday in Moberly in the event a train carrying radioactive material were to derail.
The exercise Wednesday morning simulated a truck hitting a cargo container holding spent naval nuclear fuel. The training was meant to better prepare local emergency responders and familiarize them with the process and procedures of handling a radioactive situation.
Multiple agencies were there to practice and learn including the Moberly fire and police departments, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Department of Transportation and the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
Naval spent fuel is a solid metal and contains no flammable, explosive or corrosive materials. It is stable and easy to transport with the proper safety precautions, experts say.
The shipping containers that the spent fuel is loaded into are put through intense testing to ensure they are safe and fit for the job. Some tests include being dropped 30 feet onto concrete, being submerged 50 feet in water, becoming engulfed in flames at 1,475 degrees for at least 30 minutes and being dropped 40 inches onto a 6-inch diameter vertical metal rod.
"The naval spent fuel shipping containers are incredibly safe and robust," said Matthew Napoli, a spokesman for the Navy program. "These containers weigh over 500,000 pounds and are over 10 inches thick of solid stainless steel. Under no plausible scenario would the containers be damaged in a way to release its contents."
The training is important because these containers travel through multiple states on rails before reaching their destination in Idaho, where they are stored in safe facilities. Collectively, these containers have traveled 1.7 million miles throughout the United States loaded with spent nuclear fuel with no incidents. Radiation levels outside of the container are low and are not a threat to human health, according to experts. Typical radiation outside of loaded shipping containers is about 100 times less than Department of Transportation safety limits.
The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has held routine transportation training exercises with the goal of opening up communication between departments at different levels of government since the mid-90s, the program says. Representatives from the state of Missouri were present during the last training, which took place in upstate New York. They expressed interest and pushed to have the next training event take place in Missouri.
"The most important thing from today is the knowledge gained by participants," Napoli said.
