Oregon Public Broadcasting

Two days after a truck crashed on I-84 with radioactive cargo, Senator Ron Wyden is pushing for tighter restrictions on such freight.

A statement released Christmas Eve argues that the radioactive shipment should not have moved on icy mountain roads.

The low-level medical waste did not leak. But Wyden is using the accident to argue for tougher rules for such shipments.

His spokesman, Tom Towslee, says the fact that the waste had low-level radioctivity and didn't leak, is beside the point.

Tom Towslee: “The point is that anything that is hazardous needs to be more closely regulated to make sure that it’s not moving along highways at times when there’s ice and snow on the roads.”

Wyden’s statement calls on the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy, as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop special rules for bad weather.

Specifically, he’s asking that local communities receive notice of shipments, and that states get more authority to regulate them.