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SAN JOSE — Opponents of a proposed nuclear waste dump are trying to gather support from communities in California and 44 other states in the path of trucks and trains hauling radioactive materials to the site. 

Under one scenario, up to 300 loads of waste from California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant would be hauled by train through San Jose to the proposed Yucca Mountain waste site. Other possibilities would mean hundreds of trucks traveling on Interstate 5 from Southern California. The shipments, encased in hardened steel, lead-lined casks, could begin as early as 2010. Nevada officials and casino owners are spending more than $5 million on a national lobbying campaign warning of the risks of radiation poisoning and cancer. In California, there are four nuclear reactor sites where waste would be removed: Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo, San Onofre near San Clemente, and two shut-down locations — Humboldt Bay near Eureka and Rancho Seco near Sacramento. “I would be very concerned if the waste passed through urban areas like ours,” said Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, who said he hasn’t decided how to vote on the dump. “When something is moving like that, it’s vulnerable to terrorists.”