The owner of a northern Illinois nuclear plant wants to ship about 45 pounds of highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods through Michigan on their way to a Canadian testing facility.
Excelon Generation tells the Detroit Free Press that the rods will be packed inside a 24-ton, heavily shielded shipping cask for shipment from the LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station near Marseilles, Illinois.
The company has asked the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for highway route approval to Port Huron, Michigan. Commission spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng says the shipment's route and timing are kept secret for security reasons.
Kevin Kamps of the environmental group Beyond Nuclear calls the transport casks "woefully inadequate for real-world accidents or attacks."
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says it hasn't received an application for allowing the shipment.