What would be some of the problems in using nuclear power,other than the obvious ones of radiation,disposal,terrorist,etc.?Are there any tests being done or even considered?I can see a lot of benifits if recyling the spent fuel could be done at a safe reasonable cost.
2/ Are there any other fuel options being explored,Hydrogen etal?
I know one of the problems beciseds environmental issues and desposal would be training. Many of the locomotives that were to have nuclear reactors as their primary power source would require trained engineers in operating a nuclear locomotive. I know one thing the railroad isn’t going to want to pay for most of their employees or hire new ones to go through school and become certified on such equipment. I would also think they would have to go through a hazmat program too. Another thing the EPA and the individual state’s DEP would be all over the railroads for proper maintence of nuclear power. I would also think that at this time the railroads will be spending more money than they have. 
Another problem is if it were to crash or derail, it would explolde. I think the rest is self explanitory.
This topic was discussed on other threads on this forum. Use the advanced search to find them.
The best way to power trains with nuclear energy is to build nuclear power plants and use them to run electric locomotives.
Nuclear power plants don’t explode… Never have, never will…they don’t use weapons grade uranium…
Nuclear powered submarines have a number of security personnel involved in their crews. I would think adding extra crew members to a train would be self defeating…
Better to have large nuclear power plants providing the electricity to move the trains under electric wires than to build a nuclear powered locomotive…
Thats not a good idea…They won’t explode, but still not a good idea.
Use the search to find this older topic in detail.
Adrianspeeder
This is already happening!!! The NEC receives its power from outside sources which do use nuclear fuel to generate power. So your Acela’s are nuclear powered.
Are you not to sharp?
This cannot happen. The required material for critical mass, while it may be present, is not in the shape to start a explosive type chain reaction.
It is ok not to know something, it is not ok to post something that you are clueless about and show your ignorance.
There is no need for throwing insults around. [V]
While Glen is probably wrong, he is certainly not the only person who would be mistakenly concerned about a nuclear-powered train exploding. I daresay, should such a train exist, most of the general public would be in an uproar precisely due to this misconception. How many thousands protest the shipping of nuclear waste (by any means) because of the fears of radiation ?
The biggest concerns for having a nuclear reactor on a train comes primarily from the risk of radiation leakage in the event of a collision. Two moving trains colliding cause a lot of damage; more so than a simple derailment involving only one train. The protective casing around the reactor would have to be able to withstand such forces. That would mean a good deal of additional weight.
As others have suggested, it is far safer and probably more economical to build nuclear power plants to generate the electricity to power the trains.
[#ditto]
People should think JUST a little before they post. If you don’t know, don’t post.
This topic has been hammered on in at least 1 or 2 other threads in the last 2 weeks. Enough is enough. the search function works in the forum software, use it and save a lot of greif.
My Acela’s? Cool, I didn’t know I had Acelas! Nuclear powered Acelas! [8D]
It’d be neat if we could look at the electrons in the wire and figure out wether they came from a nuclear plant or a hydro plant or from a hobo wheel. Or maybe they just move back and forth since it’s AC power and all.
Anyway, on public perception of nuclear power, has anyone here ever seen Superman IV: The Quest for Peace? I just love how Superman disposed of Nuclear man by throwing him into the cooling tower at nuclear plant. He threw Nuclear man right into the hatch at the bottom of the cooling tower where all the radioactive steam comes out. You know, the steam you see coming out of the cooling tower? [;)]
I used to tease my dad (He’s a nuclear engineer) that his plant should shine bright blue lights on the outside of the cooling towers at night just to freak every one out.
"He threw Nuclear man right into the hatch at the bottom of the cooling tower where all the radioactive steam comes out. You know, the steam you see coming out of the cooling tower? "
This is NOT radioactive steam ot water. The cooling towers are NOT for the steam that goes through the turbine, but it is for the condenser water. Each is a closed syetem and the waters do not co-mingle.
Really? I saw it in the movie therefore it must be true! [;)]
NO, I know it’s not radioactive. And I know the difference between a BWR and a PWR too.
What do you think about my idea to shine blue lights on the cooling towers? We could shine them on the cooling towers at fossil plants too just for fun.
When you see pictures of nuclear plants on TV, what do you see? Cooling Towers! If it’s got cooling towers, it must be a nuclear plant.
All plants that have condensers have cooling towers.
Unless they are direct discharging to a body of water, such as a lake.
[soapbox]Sometimes you don’t know you’re wrong until its pointed out to you. H*eck! It wasn’t until Columbus bumped into North America, that Europeans realised that the world isn’t flat. And even Columbus thought he was taking a shortcut to Asia, not knowing a whole continent stood in his way.
So it is unfair to resort to insulting people who say things they don’t know might be wrong. Correct them, yes. Point out their mistake, yes. But don’t insult them.
AJ: I know a few plant managers that would probably look at you with all the love and careing of your fourth grade teacher after a successfull spitball attack and ask you into her/his office for a little adjustment for that kind of idea on lighting.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- But the color of steam is usually enough to get the public going, especially when the hyperbolic type cooling towers (not to be confused with the forsed draft variety) are used in non-nuclear applications such as a coal fired electric generating plant or a chemical plant. I have had people swear that the cooling curtians are nuclear reactors when I was working in the construction of a coal plant near Macon GA. One even called me a conspiritor and a liar against the public good when I was his host on a guided tour of the place. Go figure- PL
I was more of a paper airplane person rather than spitballs in the fourth grade.
But blue lights would sure look cool. A nice Cherenkov Effect glow to light up the night sky.
See, you get it. People fear what they don’t understand, and the news media and entertainment industries go to great lengths to spread stupidity when it comes to science and technology.
This question sounds to me like the experiment the US Air Force did early in the Cold War with a nuclear powered bomber. If I remember right the biggest problem in that experiment was getting enough lead shielding for the reactor in the plane. In one flight the crew got at least their one year’s worth of safe radiation. I think in the end they couldn’t fit enough lead shielding in to protect the crew without the weight going past what the plane could handle.
As for as the transportation of waste I’ve seen a program I think it was on either the Discovery or History channel and some of the tests they put the containers through. One I remember was dropping a container from a crane several stories high. Another was parking a flatbed truck with a container across a test track. Then they fitted rockets to the side of what looked like an early Geep or SD. A high hood -7 or -9 and hit the truck about 50 mph. The container flew through the air and I believe the outer layer cracked but not the 2 or 3 interior layers.
There is a rail line being built to Yucca Mountain. I was told it’s about 50 miles long and it’s supposed to be the largest completely new route in at least 50 years.
The Yucca mt. project is hitting enough resistance that it may not happen.