BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – A rail car hauling a container used to transport used nuclear fuel derailed and tipped over Thursday during a collision involving two trains. The empty container was not damaged and there was no release of radiation, the Department of Energy said.

The 320,000-pound container was en route to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, from the DOE’s Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory, where it had been emptied of spent nuclear fuel from a Navy submarine.

The accident occurred about 1 a.m. in the CSX Frontier Railyard in Buffalo.

Jim Carey, a spokesman for the DOE’s Pittsburgh Naval Reactors Office, said the container had no visible damage and testing confirmed there was no release of radioactivity.

“The rail car turned over and the container was with it and turned over, too,” Carey said. “The container, which is kind of attached to the rail car, turned on its side.”

The cause of the collision was under investigation, CSX spokesman Gary Sease said.

“The two trains were operating in the yard at Buffalo, one sideswiped another and led to the government car derailing and turning over on its side,” Sease said.

Both trains were moving at the time, he said. No one was hurt.

Part of the Buffalo railyard was shut down Thursday as crews and cranes arrived.

Representatives from the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in Pittsburgh, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady and the Portsmouth shipyard were assisting CSX. Federal and state officials also were called.

“The big thing now is to get the container righted and back on the rail car,” Carey said.

U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds called for an immediate investigation by DOE, the National Nuclear Security Administration and CSX, and sought assurances that such an accident would not happen again.

“Proper steps must be taken to ensure the safety of all hazardous cargo, especially in a heavily populated area such as Buffalo,” Reynolds, R-N.Y., said.

Reynolds said the investigation should address, among other things, the proximity of other rail traffic to nuclear waste containers and whether operational or security procedures were violated.

The large tubular container has walls of 14-inch stainless steel and was built to withstand collisions, falls from bridges, fire and immersion in water, authorities said.

“The massive container provides extensive shielding so the radiation levels outside the shipping container are extremely low, a very small fraction of the Department of Transportation limit,” a DOE press release said.

The Naval Reactors Facility receives about 20 shipments of spent fuel per year from five shipyards, according to Carey.

“These shipments are essential to defueling and refueling the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered warships,” the DOE release said.

About 750 containers have been shipped without a problem, said Carey, who called Thursday’s mishap highly unusual.

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On the Net: Naval Reactors Facility: http://cleanup.inel.gov/otherareas/nrf/

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard: http://www.ports.navy.mil/

CSX: http://www.csx.com

AP-ES-09-22-05 1421EDT