cross-posted from Wild Idaho Rising Tide
On Friday evening, September 23, Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and allied, climate activists observed and documented the first train hauling nuclear waste across western Washington since November 28, 2021. As displayed between 4:35 and 5:31 of the linked, rail fan video, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway, the second largest consumer and emitter of diesel in the world, slowly hauled four casks of radioactive waste for the biggest diesel glutton, the U.S. Navy, and its nuclear reactor-powered submarines, probably from the Kitsap naval base on the Salish Sea [1]. One front, forward, BNSF locomotive pulled this extremely hazardous train composed of one long, metal, flat, buffer car on each end of the train, four cylindrical, upright, nuclear casks and their carrier cars (the most that WIRT has ever seen in one train during two years), and one rear, blue, possibly armored and/or armed caboose.
The train traveled south along the Interstate 5 corridor, then east beside the Columbia River throughout Friday night, September 23-24, heading to Villard Junction near the Tri-Cities, Washington, where BNSF transfers the loads to Union Pacific Railroad, which then travels through the Umatilla reservation around Pendleton, Oregon, and across Idaho: The Boise metropolitan area, the Shoshone-Bannock reservation near Pocatello, and ultimately to the Idaho National Laboratory west of Idaho Falls. Please see previous, WIRT, facebook post descriptions of four similar, 2021, Northwest, nuclear rail shipments, and alert relatives and friends, land and water protectors, and fellow activists along this train’s path, and document it with photos and/or videos if you see it [2]. Contact WIRT directly to potentially receive or share further information.
[1] 4 Nuclear Waste Caskets! Private Cars, Bear & Squirrel, Power Moves, Meets & Much More! 9/24&25/22, September 25, 2022 Virtual Railfan
[2] Fourth 2021 Northwest Nuclear Waste Train! November 18, 2021 Wild Idaho Rising Tide