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Department of Energy, Navy produce ultra-safe railcars to ship spent nuclear fuel

Next steps are to test how the railcars function together as a train

DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy is working on creating a rail escort vehicle that would be used as part of a train transporting spent nuclear fuel. (Photo: Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy)

What is the safest railcar in North America? The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and the Navy might argue that the railcars that they’re producing to transport high-level radioactive material are the safest. What’s more, the designs for these railcars are in the public domain.

The Navy and DOE have been working together to develop railcars that would carry high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, which is the fuel that has been used at nuclear power plants. The Navy is developing the M-290 railcar as part of its nuclear propulsion program, while DOE is seeking a way to transport spent nuclear fuel to disposal and storage sites.

So far, the DOE, in collaboration with the Navy, has developed three railcars: the Atlas railcar, which DOE says is designed to carry 17 different spent nuclear fuel containers known as casks, a buffer car and a rail escort vehicle that will transport security personnel during a shipment. 

These railcars meet the Association of American Railroads’ highest safety standard for railcars, known as S-2043.


“It is a safety standard that is far beyond any other safety standard that has ever existed in North America,” Patrick Schwab, Atlas project manager for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, told FreightWaves. The Navy and DOE “are the only two entities who would ever be transporting this kind of cargo, so we’re the only ones that [this standard] applies to.”

The S-2043 is the most stringent standard because it seeks to ensure a lower probability of derailment, according to Schwab. The standards call for less tilt and vibration and less hunting, which refers to the wobble that can occur on a railcar if a train is traveling at a certain speed and the railcar isn’t balanced correctly for that speed. 

These railcars “can go over low-quality tracks at normal speeds better than any other railcar that’s ever been built in North America,” Schwab said.

Although DOE has constructed all these railcars, they are far from ready to be used. Per the S-2043 standard, each railcar must undergo single car testing before they can be put together on a train. The buffer car has completed its testing, and the Atlas railcar and the rail escort vehicle (REV) are both nearly finished with their single car testing. 


With the single car tests nearly completed and approved, DOE is preparing to configure these railcars into one train and begin multiple car testing at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. DOE has actually been planning the multiple car testing phase for roughly one and a half years, and it may take another year and a half to two years to pass the tests and obtain AAR’s approval. 

The Atlas railcar and the buffer cars are already in Pueblo, and Schwab is looking forward to the REV’s arrival from Oregon to Pueblo sometime later this month.

“We’re coming to a very important milestone where we’ll have the Atlas railcar, the buffer railcar and the REV all together in one place for the first time,” Schwab said. 

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy describes the rail escort vehicle (REV) as “no ordinary caboose.” The REV has security features such as cameras and communications equipment “to provide enhanced surveillance of spent nuclear fuel shipments throughout the journey.” (Photo: Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy)

After the multiple car tests have been completed, that still doesn’t mean that the railcars will immediately start transporting spent nuclear fuel. Although DOE estimates that the railcars could achieve initial operations capabilities as early as 2024, any actual shipments of spent nuclear fuel using these railcars are still likely years away because there is no destination for it, according to Schwab. However, DOE needed to develop the railcars because the U.S. government must eventually face the issue of determining what to do with the amount of spent nuclear fuel that has accumulated over the past half century, Schwab said. 

According to DOE’s website, the U.S. has produced about 83,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel since the 1950s, which is a relatively small amount compared to other energy feedstocks. Spent nuclear fuel produced commercially is also being stored at more than 70 reactor or storage sites in 34 states. Although the U.S. has transported some spent nuclear fuel, there is no large-scale transportation system for it, according to an August 2016 study prepared by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. However, there has been extensive experience worldwide transporting spent nuclear fuel safely, the study said.

DOE has made the designs for the Atlas railcar and the buffer railcar public, opting not to patent the designs. Funding for this project has been a little over $30 million over the past decade.

The federal agency isn’t wrapping up this program soon: DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy just put out a request for proposals for the fabrication and testing of a prototype eight-axle railcar to carry the nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. 

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Joanna Marsh

Joanna is a Washington, DC-based writer covering the freight railroad industry. She has worked for Argus Media as a contributing reporter for Argus Rail Business and as a market reporter for Argus Coal Daily.