Atlas Chugged

The Department of Energy is developing large train cars capable of transporting canisters of spent nuclear fuel by rail to interim or permanent nuclear repositories. The prototype is named “Atlas” and it is a 12-axle railcar capable of carrying canisters weighing up to 240 tons. The train depicted in the picture completed a round trip from Pueblo, CO to Scoville, ID in June and gained rail certification from the Association of American Railroads, meaning that is ready to roll (albeit with no place to go since there are no repositories for high level commercial nuclear waste in the US).

Nuclear waste canisters weigh up to 185 tons, although the 123 canisters in dry storage at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) average 40 tons. Atlas took 2 years and $33 million to design and build. If a nuclear waste repository is identified (see “Nuke Dump Dilemma” at left), it will take many Atlas cars and many trips to move the canisters at SONGS, not to mention those stored at 92 other nuclear power plants.

Looking at Atlas more critically, two concerns arise. First, the buffer cars isolate the engineer and safety personnel from radioactivity, but what about residents and vehicles near the tracks? Second, our rail system is aging and not all bridges will support 240 tons, even when distributed over 12 axles. For a local example, look at the wooden trestle bridge over the San Dieguito River right here in Del Mar. The bridge was built in 1916, and it has had multiple repairs to mitigate deflections caused by heavy freight trains that were beyond federal limits. How many similar old bridges might lie in the Atlas route to the nuclear dump?