Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MOAB, Utah (AP) -- More than 680,000 tons of uranium tailings have been removed from a long-standing pile near Moab.
The U.S. Department of Energy says the biggest shipment yet -- a single train carrying some 4,700 tons of waste -- ran on Jan. 7.
The work is part of a $1 billion project to move 16 million tons of radioactive waste from the shores of the Colorado River to a disposal site 30 miles to the north.
The Energy Department is overseeing the work. Crews began loading railroad cars in April and hauling the waste to a series of cells at Crescent Junction designed for long-term storage for hazardous waste.
Agency officials say construction of an underpass route for State Route 279 is also complete. That will reduce the risk of collisions between trucks hauling tailings and public vehicles driving in the area.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
