The nation’s newest railcar system is built on more than 10 years of research
November 13, 2024, Pueblo, CO – The Atlas Railcar Project Team received the Secretary’s Appreciation Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for the successful design, fabrication, testing, and conditional approval of the Atlas Railcar.
MxV Rail representatives were honored to be named alongside their colleagues and collaborators in the nomination for the award. Dr. Geraldine Richmond, Undersecretary for Science and Innovation, presented the award to the federal project lead and a core team in the DC area this summer.
“We are honored to receive this recognition for MxV Rail’s role in developing and testing the new technology, and we’re immensely proud of our team’s contribution, which included many team members and multiple generations,” said Brian Smith, MxV Rail AVP of Vehicle Track Interaction and Instrumentation. “In terms of the significance, Atlas is an essential part of creating a reliable energy future and having an integrated waste management system that safely manages and stores nuclear material.”
Recognizing Our MxV Rail Colleagues
In addition to countless MxV Rail team members who helped the project succeed over the years, the following were included in the Secretary’s award:
Atlas Railcar Project challenge coins were made up and printed to commemorate the achievement.
Certified and Cleared for Operation
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) certified the Atlas railcar system this year to operate on freight railroads in the United States. The new specialized railcar was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to transport commercially spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste safely and securely.
Atlas is a 12-axle railcar equipped with advanced sensors and monitoring systems. It has the capacity to safely and securely transport the nation’s heaviest shipments of commercial spent nuclear fuel weighing up to 480,000 pounds. The project took ten years to complete and involved multiple stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
As part of our national infrastructure, the system includes Atlas, two buffer railcars, and a rail escort vehicle that was developed in partnership with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
The railcars completed final testing last year in a 1,680-round-trip journey from Pueblo, Colorado, to Scoville, Idaho. They were the first railcars to meet the rigorous testing requirements of AAR’s S-2043 standard for transporting high-level radioactive material.
Learn more from the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy here.
Contact: Niki Toussaint, Senior AVP Marketing & Education, niki_toussaint@aar.com, 719-671-8676
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