USA Tested Railcar for Spent Nuclear Fuel Transfer
To wrap up final testing of Atlas railcar the U.S. Department of Energy has completed a 2575 km round-trip from Colorado to Idaho and simulated a full-scale shipment of the spent nuclear fuel. During testing, the railcar carried steel test weights instead of 217-ton radioactive cargo simulating the heaviest transport container certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Atlas was accompanied by a rail escort vehicle (REV) and two buffer railcars, and hailed by two Union Pacific locomotives.
Atlas is a 12-axle railcar designed specifically to transport large containers of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste and meets the highest safety standards set by the Association of American Railroads.
The overall cost of the 10-year project was approximately $33 million. The REV was developed in partnership with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program to replace its aging fleet of escort vehicles.
The U.S. Department of Energy plans to use Atlas and other railcars to support emergency responder training and informational roadshows prior to commencing shipments of spent nuclear fuel to a federal consolidated interim storage facility.
The four fabricated prototype railcars (Atlas, two buffer railcars, and REV) are expected to be ready for operational use as soon as the final testing data can be analyzed and documented, and conditional approval is granted by the Equipment Engineering Committee.