Massive trailer to haul nuclear waste from Calif. to Utah

Wed, 07/27/2011 - 5:02pm

Images

A photographer captures the radiation tag on a 399 foot-long trailer assembly which will haul the retired steam generator component from The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Onofre, Calif. on July 26, 2011. A massive 192-wheel trailer will make four trips this year to haul old steam generator parts from the California nuclear power plant to Utah for disposal. The Orange County Register reported Wednesday that the effort to take the four 380-ton parts from Southern California Edison's San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to Clive, Utah, will begin in the next week. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Jebb Harris)

The transport vehicle on a 399 foot-long trailer assembly which will haul the retired steam generator component from The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is shown in San Onofre, Calif. on July 26, 2011. A massive 192-wheel trailer will make four trips this year to haul old steam generator parts from the California nuclear power plant to Utah for disposal. The Orange County Register reported Wednesday that the effort to take the four 380-ton parts from Southern California Edison's San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to Clive, Utah, will begin in the next week. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Jebb Harris)

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A massive 192-wheel trailer will make four trips to haul old generator parts considered to be low-level nuclear waste from California to Utah for disposal.

Efforts will begin in the next week to move the four, 380-ton parts from Southern California Edison’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente to Clive, Utah, the Orange County Register reported Wednesday.

The precise departure date was not released for security reasons.

The parts were recently replaced with four new steam generators brought to California from Japan as part of a $674 million project.

Edison officials said the level of radiation from the old parts poses no risk to the public, but they hope people won’t come out to see the lumbering trailer due to the challenges of moving such a large vehicle.

"If you stay for one hour 6 feet away from it, it equals one dental X-ray," project manager Craig Harberts told The Press-Enterprise of Riverside.

The 400-foot vehicle will be escorted by California Highway Patrol on a route that mostly covers secondary highways. After each 21-day journey, the vehicle will be disassembled and shipped back to California for the next trip.

The four trips are expected to be completed this year.

Lara Uselding, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told The Press-Enterprise the first load has been inspected and meets safety standards to leave the plant.

Stamped with yellow "radioactive" warning signs, it will travel 832 miles from northern San Diego County through the suburbs east of Los Angeles and into Nevada before heading to Utah.