Tri-State's nuclear division is responsible for all radioactive movements, and has developed a comprehensive safety program for the handling of these materials. It employs a full-time health physicist and a nuclear staff of experienced personnel with years of experience in nuclear transportation, and it maintains a manual describing the handling of radioactive materials. Tri-State has been serving the supporting shipper's facilities at Maxey Flats and Sheffield on a nationwide basis and Richland, Beatty, San Ramon, and Robstown on an extremely limited basis. It holds no authority to transport ecological wastes.

Davis is a common carrier specializing in the transportation of dangerous commodities including radioactive materials. It has been engaged in the movement of radioactive materials since 1968. It is presently serving the supporting shipper at Beatty, under temporary authority, and regularly moves radioactive waste into the Maxey Flats facility. In addition to its home terminal at Paducah, where complete office and repair facilities are maintained, it presently maintains subterminals at Beatty and in Rowan County, in connection with the considered movements of radioactive waste. It holds no authority to transport ecological wastes.

Davis's fleet of 25 tractors and 53 trailers contains all the types of equipment required by the supporting shipper, including some special radioactive units. Where required, Davis furnishes two-man driver teams. It also has a special training program for its drivers assigned to radioactive movements and its nuclear division has developed a comprehensive safety program for the handling of radioactive materials. It employs a health physicist on retainer in conjunction with its special training program.

Ligon is a motor common carrier holding both "size-and-weight" and specified commodity authority. It has 37 terminals located throughout the United States. Although its existing authority is extensive, it filed its instant application because it believes that its "size-and-weight" authority is inadequate to transport all of the different items involved in this proceeding and that its authority is insufficient in geographical scope to fulfill the shipper's requirements. Ligon believes it could provide a small portion of the radioactive waste service sought herein under its size-and-weight authority, but it has no authority to transport ecological wastes. Ligon operates a fleet of diversified equipment consisting of 627 tractors and 801 trailers. It does not own or lease any tank trailer equipment and while it considers its present fleet adequate under

the requirements of this application, it would acquire additional equipment if needed. It does not employ a health physicist.

Usher is a motor common carrier of petroleum products and other specified liquid and bulk commodities. In addition to its home terminal at Paducah, which has complete maintenance and repair facilities, it has four other service terminal facilities within its service area in the east central portion of the United States. It has no present authority to provide any of the requested services. Usher operates 97 tractor units and 126 van, tank, and flat trailers, the majority of which are suitable for the shipper's proposed movement. It has appropriate maintenance and safety programs. It has not previously handled any radioactive traffic but has been working with the shipper in developing a suitable program and procedures for the movement of radioactive wastes.

NECO and its subsidiaries Protective Packaging, Inc., Texas Ecologists, Inc., and JHL Associates support all four applications. Their primary business consists of the handling, packaging, solidification, transportation, and disposal of low-level radioactive wastes, and chemical and toxic wastes. NECO offers a single total waste management service providing technical services and manpower, protective packaging, waste solidification equipment and services, shields and handling equipment, and a choice of burial sites, both as to geographical location and the ability to receive various types of waste materials. NECO operates burial sites at Maxey Flats, Sheffield, Beatty, Richland, and Robstown and a warehouse collection station at San Ramon. The Illinois and Nevada locations are presently used for the burial of both radioactive and ecological wastes. The Texas site is employed solely for ecological wastes but may be expanded to include radioactive wastes.

There is a great variation in the types and sizes of the containers used for various types of rad-waste materials. The weight of these materials varies from few ounces to several tons. The containers vary from small lead packages to heavy shielded casks. The wastes. may be liquid, bulk, solid, or gaseous in form, which requires a full range of types of trailer equipment. Many items are not "heavyhauler" commodities. The same situation exists with respect to the ecological waste portion of the application. Economics, together with safety and environmental health requirements, normally dictate the size and type of the shipping container. Even resins, and sludges normally shipped in the large casks, may be moved in smaller containers since they are fungible substances and are pumped in through a hose connection.

In some instances, such as in defueling atomic reactors and naval vessels, razing certain nuclear installations, and decontamination and removal of ecological and other spills, NECO has experienced an immediate need for sufficient and proper carrier equipment and for trained and qualified driver personnel. It, therefore, requires several carriers with a broad range of suitable trailer equipment, whose personnel have had previous training as required by NECO in the movement of these hazardous materials. Shipper projects its controlled traffic to its burial sites as follows: 1976-1,650 loads; 1977-1,795 loads; 1978-1,970 loads; and 1979-2,120 loads. The estimate is based on its past growth rate experience and the continuing growth of the nuclear industry and continued strengthening and enforcement of environmental controls.

NECO operates a small private fleet and has utilized the services of Tri-State, Davis, and McCormack's in the past, but has never utilized Dealers, Ligon, or Usher. NECO requires that any driver transporting its radioactive and ecological wastes be trained in its own educational and safety procedures program. Tri-State and Davis presently have drivers who have undergone this training. The four applicants have all agreed to furnish additional drivers for training and instruction as required.

Protestant Dealers operates as an irregular-route, motor common carrier throughout the United States. It holds authority to transport motor vehicles, certain specified commodities, and size-and-weight commodities. It operates 427 tractors and 752 trailers of various types and maintains 17 terminals throughout its system. Dealers bases its opposition upon size-and-weight authority and has never handled any NECO traffic. It holds specific authority to transport size-or-weight commodities between points in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Dealers also participates in through joint-line service extending to most or all application points. Dealers has (1) no authority to originate traffic at Sheffield, (2) no single-line authority to serve points in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware to any of the involved burial sites, (3) no single-line authority to serve named points from points in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, and (4) no single-line authority from points in North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, except for the Richland destination.

McCormack's holds authority to transport radioactive waste material from points in 27 Eastern States and the District of Columbia to Maxey Flats, and empty containers in the reverse direction. It is also authorized to provide the involved radioactive waste and container service between Sheffield, on the one hand, and, on the other, points in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. McCormack's equipment includes 4 drop-frame trailers, 5 vans, 6 lowbeds, 7 open-tops, 2 straight trucks, 1 dump truck, 11 flat beds, and 23 tractors (most sleepers). McCormack's has been handling radioactive shipments since 1962. Of its 44 employees, 34 are trained to engage in nuclear transportation and more than half have been cleared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It has been issued a Department of Transportation Materials License which permits it to manufacture Type A containers. McCormack's has an on-going, extensive radioactive educational program and its employees use all necessary or desirable radioactive instrumentation and proper procedures for handling radioactive commodities.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Pursuant to section 207 of the Interstate Commerce Act an applicant for motor common carrier authority must establish that the operation it proposes is or will be required by the present or future public convenience and necessity. In ascertaining the extent, if any, to which this statutory requirement has been met, we must determine whether the new operation will serve a useful purpose responsive to a public need or demand; whether this purpose can or will be served by applicant without endangering the operations of existing carriers contrary to the public interest. Pan-American Bus Lines Operation, 1 M.C.C. 190, 203 (1936). A major question, then, is whether the advantages to the public that would use the proposed service outweigh the disadvantages, real or potential, that may affect existing services. All American Bus Lines, Inc., Common Carrier Application, 18 M.C.C. 755, 776-777 (1939). Even if we do not find existing service to be inadequate in any material respect, we are not, of course, precluded from finding that other factors require the proposed operation. See Patterson Extension-York, Pa., 111 M.C.C. 645, 650 (1970), and cases cited. Contrary to the conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge and the contentions of the opposing carriers, we believe that applicants Tri-State and Davis. have satisfied their burden of proof. The increased use of nuclear

power plants and reactor units necessitates reliable and responsive transportation services for the expeditious movement of radioactive and toxic wastes to approved burial sites. These services must embody a larger pool of required equipment and trained personnel. It is, therefore, clear that the proposed operations of Tri-State and Davis will serve a useful purpose responsive to an emerging public need.

Shipper's testimony regarding traffic moving within the involved territory is sufficiently descriptive of origins, destinations, and traffic volumes, past and future, to permit a determination of the relevant service requirements of the supporting firm. A review of this testimony reveals that shipper requires transportation of shipments by motor carriers able to originate traffic from any point in the United States for delivery to any of the involved burial sites. Shipper also requires carriers with specialized knowledge, protective gear, and radiation detection equipment and specifically requires that all drivers must be trained in its own educational and safety procedures program. The operations of protestant McCormack's are limited to transporting radioactive waste from points in 27 Eastern States and the District of Columbia to Maxey Flats and from points in 6 States to Sheffield. McCormack's holds no authority to serve any of the other burial sites or to transport ecological wastes. The great range of traffic involved in this proceeding makes it clear that even the most generous attitude toward heavy-hauling rights could not lead to a finding that Dealers' size-and-weight authority embraces all the commodities here involved, cf. Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging Co. Investigation, 108 M.C.C. 717 (1969), and Tri-State Motor Transit Co., Ext. Radioactive Mats., 108 M.C.C. 228 (1968). Although a certain amount of traffic may be subject to diversion, existing carriers have no absolute immunity against future competition. See Patterson, supra. Where, as here, the competition resulting from newly authorized service will cause a carrier already providing the service to lose revenue, the issuance of new authority may best serve the public convenience and necessity. The possibility that protestant McCormack's (Dealer's has not previously handled the traffic) will be faced with additional competition is outweighed by the benefits accruing to the supporting shipper from obtaining the needed services of additional carriers. Compare Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc., Extension, 112 M.C.C. 558, 570 (1970).

Tri-State and Davis have handled radioactive materials for several years, operate nuclear divisions, employ a health physicist, and have