LACBWR Reactor Shipped to Repository

The RPV before departure in late May, on a rail car specifically designed for its transport.

Twenty years after Dairyland Power Cooperative shut down the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) nuclear power plant, the “heart” of the facility has been shipped to a repository in South Carolina. The Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) left aboard a specially designed rail car in late May. Following a successful transport, it arrived at the repository in Barnwell, SC, in
June 2007.

Dairyland contracted with Energy Solutions, a national radioactive waste services contractor, to facilitate the removal and disposal of the RPV and other low-level, non-fuel waste. The repository disposal site is owned by the State of South Carolina.

What is the RPV?

The RPV was used for steam generation and is approximately 10 feet in diameter and 40 feet long. The RPV was filled with cement and encased in cement and steel, then sealed by a welded cover. At approximately 310 tons, it required a special 20-axle rail car to ship.

Although the vessel is classified as low-level waste, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Homeland Security regulations required that Dairyland could not specify the exact time and route the rail carrying the RPV would take.

The removal and shipment of the RPV and other waste was planned and implemented in accordance with NRC and US Department of Transportation rules and regulations.

Completion of this project is a key step in the continuing LACBWR decommissioning process.

Click here to view the RPV photos of the removal process and transport to the repository.

Click here for background information on LACBWR.