Proposals being sought to build and test high-tech railcar for SNF

摘要

The Department of Energy issued a request for proposals in January for the fabrication and testing of a prototype eight-axle railcar to carry the nation's spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The heavy-duty, flat-deck railcar design known as Fortis received approval from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) in January 2021 to proceed to building and testing. The proposal includes the fabrication of a prototype Fortis railcar, the acquisition of instrumented wheelsets necessary to measure railcar performance, and the conduct of the railcar testing required by AAR Standard S-2043, Performance Specification for Trains Used to Carry High-Level Radioactive Material. The design for the Fortis railcar will be provided to the contractor by the DOE, and the Fortis project will receive technical support for fabrication and testing from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.