Friday
February 4, 1C33
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 82, No. 97
NoodkBsur waste
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KUSU U WJ U U LJ
By Chris Welsch and Chris Burbach
If the Lincoln City Council passes the
resolution to regulate shipments of spent
fuel from the Cooper Nuclear Power
Plant next Monday, the results could affect
utilities nationwide.
Jay Pilant, Nebraska Public Power
District division manager for licensing and
quality assurance, said that if this
ordinance passes, other towns would feel
free to pass similar resolutions.
Pilant said having to check each town's
rules and regulations regarding transport
of nuclearwaste would be like having to
get a new driver's license each time a
person passed from town to town.
"It would be impossible to live with,"
he said. "It would be virtually a nightmare
for the industry."
Pilant said that if the resolution passed,
he was almost certain someone, if not
NPPD, would file suit.
He said it wasn't the city's role to dic
tate transportation laws.
"What's the role of the Interstate
Commerce Commission?" he asked.
Safety measures should be taken at
the federal level so laws would be uniform,
Pilant said.
The resolution to regulate the shipments
on their journey from the Cooper plant to
a temporary storage facility in Morris, 111.,
was introduced by Councilman Eric
Youngberg. At Monday's council meeting,
Youngberg said his resolution is based on
the premise that NPPD officials should
prove that safety shipments will be con
ducted as safely as possible.
Youngberg said a national policy for
such guidelines is needed desperately, but
lias been resisted by the federal
government.
Carol Brt, a brakeperson for Burlington
Northern and representative of the United
Transportation Union Local No.305's Safe
Energy and Full Employment Committee,
said she thinks the proposed shipments are
"merely the tip of the iceberg."
Brt said U.S. Department of Energy
figures indicate 31 nuclear reactors are
scheduled to run out of storage space for
spent fuel before Cooper runs out in 1993.
A nuclear storage site probably would
be established in Nevada or Utah. Of the
138 reactors licensed to operate by 1985,
107 are in the eastern half of the United
States, she said.
This could lead to a lot of spent fuel
riding the rails through Lincoln, she said.
Brt said several viable alternatives would
eliminate the need to ship the wastes
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through Lincoln for some time.
On-site dry storage and tuel rod consoli
dation are two ways the Cooper plant
could extend storage facilities, she said.
According to DOE studies, economical
methods of on-site dry storage will be avail
able six to eight years before the Cooper
plant runs out of space.
Brt said she had questions about the
quality of the rail running from Nebraska
City to Cooper Station because of state
ments in 1981 Annual Update, the Nebras
ka Rail Plan, issued by the Nebraska De
partment of Roads.
ihc update said the first six miles of
track extending from Nebraska City
towards Cooper Station are in good
condition. However, the rest of the line is
composed of varying lengths of rail. The
lightest rail, laid in 1883, is in poor condi
tion and weighs 56 pounds per three feet.
The 75- and 85-pound rail was laid about
1910, but is satisfactory.
The report also states that a good deal
(70 percent in places) of the ties are disin
tegrated, and that tie plates are lying on
the ground.
Wilburn Colley, track inspector for th
the Nebraska Public Service Commission,
said that to his knowledge, the track south
of Nebraska City had been upgraded.
"There were several crews working
on it last summer," Colley said. "It's pro
bably not true (the Rail Update report of
disintegrated ties)."
Colley's job is to monitor the weekly
inspections conducted by Burlington
Northern. He said he recently inspected
Burlington-Northern's records on the track'
and found everything to be in order.
Dan Schlitt, UNL professor of physics,
said he was concerned about the credibility
of those who designed and tested the casks
because of mistakes they have made.
Schlitt said the casks originally were
designed to have water as a coolant. The
casks were equipped with pressure valves
that would release the pressure in case of
extreme heat The valves then would
close, he said. However, the valves didn't
close, so the designers abandoned them, he
said.
General Electric, which tested the
current casks by computer, erred in the
information they fed the computer about
the critical mass of the spent fuel rods, he
said. Because of that error, GE failed to
prove that the assembly wouldn't deterior
iate in such a way that criticality would
occur.
Continued on Page 7
No Queed to eacnoafte'
A bomb threat prompted officials to
search the College of Business Admini
stration building early Thursday morning.
The building was searched and no bomb
was found, said Frank Costa, deputy state
fire marshal.
"The facilty was not evacuated," UNL
Police spokesman Bob Fey said, "but no
additional people were allowed in until the
building was searched."
A university operator received the bomb
threat at about 8:33 ajn. Thursday. The
content of the conversation, however,
will not be released until it can be investi
gated further, Fey said.
"We had been notified that there may
be a bomb, but no time or date was given,"
Costa said. "There was no need to
evacuate: it was just a routine check."
The Lincoln Fire Department, the UNL
Police Department and the state fire
marshal were notified and dispatched.
Officials announced the building to be
"all clear" at about 8:58 ajn., and people
then were allowed in the building, Fey
said.
Gary Schwendiman, dean ot the
College of Business Administration, was
not in his office when the bomb threat
was called in, but his office was notified,
Fey said.
"It was really pretty simple," said Billie
Lefholtz, an administrative assistant to
Schwendiman. "No classes were disrupted,
and I doubt if many people know about
it."
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Determining the quality of education
By Mona Koppelman
Roxie and Lonny Olson ot North
Platte enrolled the oldest of their three
sons in a public school and then a Lutheran
school, each time for two years.
"We've seen both sides of the religious
school issue," Olson said. "And we were
disappointed with each."
Since August 1982, all of the Olson
children have been taught at home. The
curriculum was designed by the Christian
Liberty Academy of Prospect Hills, 111.
"Educators talk about teaching the
kids values and morals," Mrs. Olson said.
"This is offensive to us because they can't
use the Bible as a basis for anything. They
won't even acknowledge God.
"How can they teach our children any
morals or values that would be acceptable
to us as Christians?," she asked.
The Olsons were two of 16 people who
testified Wednesday evening before the
Legislature's Education Committee re
garding three bills affecting Nebraska's
unapproved schools. Unapproved schools
include those sponsored by a religious
organization and those in the home of a
parent.
Sen. Howard Peterson of Grand Island
introduced LB45 and LB46, bills that
would permit religious schools to hire
teachers without state certification and
exempt such schools from required atten
dance and other State Department of
Education regulations.
Continued on Page 7
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From top: Deacon Ewalt
Hageman, left, and the
Rev. Everett Sileven listen
to the discussion at the
Capitol Wednesday; Sen.
Howard Peterson of Grand
Island presents opening
comments on the hearing
for LB45 and LB46; while
Ron Stoddard and his son,
Eric, of Hershey, Neb., lis
ten in.
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