Uranium project near Moab ahead of schedule

Comment: 120 Jobs, 6 days a week, sounds good, well maybe not?

By Mike Stark
Associated Press WriterSalt Lake Tribune
Posted:02/13/2009 02:27:01 PM MST

The first rail cars hauling uranium tailings away from a huge pile near Moab could move sometime in April.

Work is about a month ahead of schedule to begin rail shipments, said Don Metzler, the project's director for the federal Department of Energy. Managers are hoping to ship the first load April 20, but Metzler says that date is only a target at this point and not firm.

"It's getting more intense, and we're getting more excited," Metzler said Friday.

The 16 million tons of radioactive sludge are being taken to Crescent Junction as part of a $1 billion project to deal with the waste.

The tailings are leftovers from a former uranium mill about three miles northwest of Moab.

The 130-acre site along U.S. 191 leaches contaminants into the river, which provides water for some 25 million people downstream.

Crescent Junction -- about 30 miles north -- is meant to be a safe long-term disposal site for the waste.

Federal officials decided in August to transport the tailings primarily by rail, not truck, to Crescent Junction.

Since then, crews have been working to prepare the rail line and make sure the disposal site is ready.

Metzler said about 120 people are working six days a week to complete preparations, including thousands of feet of rail spurs and roads for hauling the waste from the pile to the rails.
In the coming weeks, excavation will begin on the north side of the tailings pile for the first shipments.

Once the shipments begin, Metzler expects one train -- each with 22 rail cars containing a total of 88 specially designed containers for the tailings -- to run five days a week.

Meanwhile, disposal cells for the waste are nearly ready at Crescent Junction. Crews have excavated nearly 2 million cubic yards to make room for the first shipments.

Work was also completed in December to reduce the amount of rain water that flows through the tailings pile and increases the risk of contaminating the Colorado River during heavy storms.

Despite the aggressive schedule, Metzler said DOE and EnergySolutions, the contractor on the project, don't want to sacrifice safety or workmanship.

"We want to be smart about this," he said.

The goal is to have the Moab site cleaned up by 2028, but that could be moved up to 2019 if more money is available.

The waste is part of a Cold War legacy in Moab, where rich uranium deposits were mined in the 1950s for nuclear weapons. The Atlas Minerals Corp. bought the mill in 1962.

It closed in 1984 but left behind the heap of tailings on the banks for the Colorado River.