Fright Train

Sometime this summer, the feds are planning to transport nuclear waste from power plants via train from New York to a U.S. Energy Department reservation in southeastern Idaho. Dubbing the shipment a "mobile Chernobyl," anti-nuke advocates plan to raise a ruckus when the freight train comes through. Although the shipment across the country will be the first such one in many years, it might not be the last -- the nuclear power industry hopes to have an interim storage site for the waste set up in Utah by as early as 2003. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to approve plans for a permanent storage facility under Yucca Mountain, Nev., later this year.