EnergySolutions announced July 22 that a 670-ton reactor pressure vessel (RPV) from the previously decommissioned Unit 1 of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), located in San Diego County, Calif., had been safely transported from California through Nevada and into Utah, where it reached its final destination at the company’s Clive disposal facility. It was the single-largest load ever to travel Nevada’s highways.
The RPV shipping container—15 ft, 6 in. in diameter and 38 ft, 6 in. long—had traveled by rail from California to Apex, Nev., using a 36-axle Schnabel car, the largest in the world, with a capacity to transport up to 880 tons. The rail trip took four days, covering 366 miles with a maximum speed of 15 mph.