Nuclear Fuel Spill Exercise Set For Upstate NY Rail Yard

MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Federal, state and local law enforcement, emergency and environmental protection agencies will be conducting a nuclear fuel spill response exercise at an upstate New York rail yard.

The transportation emergency exercise is being conducted Thursday morning at the Pan Am rail yard in the Saratoga County city of Mechanicville, on the Hudson River 18 miles (29 kilometers) north of Albany.

Authorities say the exercise will involve a simulated collision between a truck and a U.S. Navy spent nuclear fuel container moved by rail. Spent fuel from naval reactors is shipped by rail to the Idaho National Laboratory.

Agencies participating in the drill include the New York State Police, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in neighboring Schenectady County.