Our Roads Were Way Too Safe, Anyhow

By Shannon in News on Apr 22, 2007 5:00PM

Chicagoist noticed something recently: People aren't as up in arms about nuclear power as they used to be. Back in the day, protestors and even the Joe Averages of America tried to diffuse the thought of meltdowns happening right in their backyards. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl just added fuel rods to the fire. But nowadays you (and by you we mean we) hardly hear of any dustups about safety or mutations. Even our glorious fear-mongering TV movies have died down.

Thank goodness for the Department of Energy. Leave it to them to kick the panic level up a notch in this cushy state. In order to spirit away nuclear waste from various plants, the DOE is mulling over the use of interstate highways, specifically 74, 80, 88 and 294. Spent plutonium would be carted to Argonne National Laboratory in the southwest suburbs, as well as another waste facility further out in Morris. A spokesman for the department stressed the safety record of associated containers over a span of 30 years. But plucky, concerned citizens of nearby Naperville are raising a stink nonetheless.

Members of the Nuclear Waste Containment Campaign gathered Friday to discuss possible dangers of the DOE's program. According to them, just driving on the same stretch of road as a waste-laden truck could up your gray level for the day by a considerate amount. And who knows what could happen under certain circumstances? News articles brought up by the group proved that, in extreme cases, the casks carrying the waste can be punctured. We can't say we're not alarmed about that possibility, in addition to concerns about individual driver competency, and not just of the plutonium drivers. Some of those drivers on the highway are...well, assholes. We're not sure how else nuclear plants could dispose of it, though. Be that as it may, we just pray none of those transport vehicles play chicken with the atomic train.