PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Department of Transportation urges drivers to use caution and allow extra time for construction zones on state highways over the holidays.

ADOT says some necessary work zone lane restrictions can slow traffic during peak travel times even when construction is not active.

Drivers planning trips to California from the Phoenix area could experience delays on Interstate 10 lasting as long as 90 minutes during peak travel times.

I-10 is narrowed to one lane in both directions for bridge improvements 40 miles west of Phoenix.

Alternates include U.S. 60 through Wickenburg.

ADOT will use I-10 message signs in Phoenix and near the California border to advise drivers of traffic conditions at the Hassayampa River Bridge.

Online:

www.azdot.gov

AZ511

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Answer: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved 1,553 shipments of commercial nuclear waste from 1979 to 2007, mostly using the interstate highway system. The most heavy transport is on the east cost, but almost every state is connected.

Q: What is the nuclear waste being shipped?

A: The waste is low level commercial nuclear waste. Low level is a bit misleading because it does not mean that it is not highly radioactive. The most common form of the waste, however, is medical grade. This could come from hospital x-ray machines and is usually not too highly radioactive. Transuranic radioactive waste, however, can be highly radioactive. No high level, which is the type of waste that comes from spent fuel, is currently allowed to be transported in the United States.

Q: Is it dangerous?

A: The shipment process is highly secure. The NRC states that in the more than one million miles of travel, none of the shipments have resulted in an injury.

Q: Who has to report the shipments through the NRC.

A: The NRC does not regulate all shipments. The shipments involved come from universities with research facilities and reactors, utilities and private companies, such as hospitals. The U.S. Department of Energy or the U.S. Department of Defense have their own regulations.

Q: Why was the proposal revised?

A: Tribal officials were not against the original 1999 proposal. There were disputes on the method the NRC proposed to use.

Q: Who gets to know now?

A: Any state governor, or a single designated top-ranking official.

Q: Could this extend to high-level waste in the future?

A: If high level waste is approved for transport it will most likely be  under the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy.

Q: How often does waste pass through reservations?

A: The NRC has no information on that.

Q: Why would nuclear waste pass through Arizona?

A: Low level nuclear waste can come from anywhere. Hospitals are the most prominent example. Northern Arizona also lies between two Department of Energy facilities which are currently moving transuranic waste. WIPP, or the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and the Nevada National Security Site which both currently store and transfer all types of  low level waste.

Q: How do I read or comment on the document?

A: It’s available for comment and review here.

In all, two Flagstaff Fire units, two Guardian Medical ambulances, and Flagstaff PD were on the scene to assist with five patients in the home.

Firefighters obtained readings of CO over 400 ppm (parts per-million). These levels can be lethal within a short amount of time. Normal CO limits can range from 0 ppm up to 20 ppm. Two of the patients were transported to Flagstaff Medical Center, while three others were being treated on scene.

Firefighters ventilated the home and after a primary investigation determined a wood stove may have created the near lethal levels.

There were no CO detectors in the home; the 911 call came in from a friend who had stopped by the residence at around 6:20am this morning.  After finding all five occupants of the home in various stages of CO poisoning, he called 911.

The Flagstaff Fire Department reminds everyone to place a CO detector in your home. If you suspect a CO leak, exit the home and call 911.

CO poisoning symptoms are very similar to flu-like conditions; nausea, vomiting, lethargy.