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Published on: 8/5/2005
Last Visited: 8/5/2005
The material is barely radioactive, according to Brookhaven National Lab spokesman Peter Genzer.
"The trains contain soil and some broken up concrete from cleanup projects at the lab," Genzer said."This is concrete and soil from around the research reactor at the laboratory," which is a nuclear reactor that is about 100th the power of an energy-producing reactor.
"The reason the lab was built was for the peaceful exploration of the atom," Genzer said.The reactor was shut down in 1970, and the lab is in the process of decommissioning it.The soil being shipped has low-level radiation - "the lowest level that requires placarding signs on it," Genzer said.
"If you're standing 20 feet away you couldn't get anything from a radiation detector," he said.
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Though Genzer assured that even if there were to be an accident, the material does not cause a threat.He said workers do not need to wear special gear to protect themselves from the radiation when loading the material.
Since the beginning of the clean-up project early last year, 200 train cars willed with soil and debris have been shipped, Genzer said.