The House of Representatives on Tuesday through a suspension of the rules approved legislation that was proposed in response to an Energy Department plan to in 2016 start transporting highly enriched uranium from Chalk River, Ontario, to the Savannah River Site via an automobile bridge that connects Canada to Buffalo, N.Y. If signed into law, the bill could slow the rate of those shipments. The transactions between the U.S. and Canada are part of an agreement between President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to increase efforts to return HEU materials stored at Chalk River Laboratories to U.S. facilities.
Introduced in the House by Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) on July 29, the “Know the CBRN Terrorism Threats to Transportation Act” would require the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis to conduct a terrorism threat assessment regarding the transport of chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological materials through U.S. land borders and within the nation within 90 days of the bill’s passage. The bill now heads to the Senate Homeland Security Committee for further consideration.
The Peace Bridge crosses the Niagara River, which feeds Niagara Falls and connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and is the busiest passenger crossing on the northern U.S. border, according to a press release issued by Higgins’ office on Wednesday. The congressman argues that an attack or an accident involving a truck carrying HEU could have catastrophic effects on the environment. Higgins began his push for a CBRN threat assessment in 2014 with a letter to DOE.
“Terrorists and militant groups have expressed an interest in using highly dangerous weapons, especially those utilizing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, known as CBRN agents or materials,” Higgins said in a statement. “This bill gives federal agencies the information they need to make decisions and develop policies that are informed by the terrorism threat picture.”
