Arkansas 96 span to close for drills

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A stretch of Arkansas 96 near the Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center will close today from 8 p.m. to midnight for convoy training for federal agents who transport government-owned nuclear materials for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Tractor-trailer trucks and escort vehicles will be used in the training on the highway stretch from Fort Smith Boulevard to the training center’s South Boundary Road, according to a news release. The road will be closed for similar training sessions, 8 p.m. to midnight, on April 16, April 30 and May 7.

The training involves agents for the federal Office of Secure Transportation. The office, a branch of the National Nuclear Security Administration, is “responsible for the safe and secure transport in the contiguous United States of government-owned special nuclear materials,” according to the unit’s website.

Andrew Preston, a training coordinator for the event, declined to say how many agents or vehicles will take part in the training. The activities are restricted and observers aren’t allowed, he said.

The convoy training has been held at Fort Smith’s Fort Chaffee training center in previous years, Preston said.

“They try to spread out and do different terrains and environments. Every three or four years, they wind up here,” Preston said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 04/09/2013