Part of Interstate 95 in Cumberland County, North Carolina, was closed for five hours Wednesday after a truck carrying a radioactive uranium compound crashed.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the crash happened around 11:30 a.m. ET near the junction of I-95 and Interstate 295, WAVY-TV reported. This is just northeast of Fayetteville.
Initially, I-95 was closed in both directions. The northbound lanes reopened at about 2 p.m., followed by the southbound lanes at about 4:30 p.m.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials on the scene said the crash involved a truck carrying uranium hexafluoride, which can be used to make fuel for nuclear power plants. The crash involved the commercial vehicle and a passenger van. This is according to a report from WTVD-TV. No one was hurt in the crash, and a HAZMAT team responded.
The same report said the Highway Patrol initially evacuated drivers from their vehicles and moved them away from the scene as a precaution. Drivers were later permitted to go back to their vehicles. Troopers said they didn’t see a rupture or compromise of the containers involved.
WTVD-TV also reported that, according to The Emergency Response Guidebook: A Guidebook for First Responders, radiation from uranium hexafluoride presents minimal risk to transport workers, emergency response personnel and the public during transportation accidents.
Eric Denison
Typical, but disappointing, that the TV piece and this article focus on the radioactive material and ignore the corrosive hazard, which is much more dangerous than the radiation.