Incredible "Road Train" begins transport of Radioactive Steam Generator

A truck longer than a football field and carrying a low-level radioactive steam generator from the San Onofre nuclear power plant to Utah made a scheduled stop on Oceanside Boulevard Monday morning, but it was blocking two eastbound lanes, Oceanside police said. A spokesman for Southern California Edison, the utility company moving the generator, would not say the exact time the truck would begin moving again because of security reasons, but he said it would be by Monday night.

I saw this "Road Train" yesterday.....It was incredible.

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This is the route they will be traveling.

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The truck is 399 feet long and has 192 tires. The 30-year-old steam generator weighs 380 tons and was on an 832-mile journey to another power plant in Clive, Utah, where it was to be stored.

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The move is safe despite the low-level radioactivity, Andresen said. If you were to stand near the truck for an hour, the amount of radiation exposure you would receive would be about the same amount as you would get from a dental X-ray, he said.

So they tell us...

Link to Story...

Its amazing what we can do when we set our minds to it, isn't it? Great pics!

Oh Heck... All these years of trucking and I had no idea I could safely take that route out of California. I made the mistake of trying the route off 395 into Vegas. Oh...that was the experience of a lifetime in an 18 wheeler. If this monster can take that route though, then a normal truck sure could.

I wouldn't worry about radioactivity or anything for a shipment like this though. The people handling it are mighty casual about being close to it and they wouldn't be casual at all if it posed a real danger. They may not do anything overt to worry the public, but they wouldn't be standing within feet of it and clearly relaxed like these pics show. I'd worry FAR more about the traffic nightmare this will case whenever it crosses a major traveled highway or comes near any town.

I wonder how much this driver is getting on something like this. I'm betting he's pulling enough to go on vacation when this is done.

Tons of things are radioactive. Doesn't mean they are 'harmful' in the sense of nuclear fuel. You don't wanna lay on it for months, but being around it won't kill you. In our local paper mill, theres rad-level meters on the computers there and signs on some of the steam equipment. Simply because enough energy is being released.

reply to post by whyamIhere


ahh.. Oceanside is south of San Onofre..

why did it go the other way?

hi op
great pics
ive not seen that here in the uk, well not on that scale
for the last year though ive been watching an american/canadian program
called ice road truckers, some of the stuff they do is wow
regards
dave

reply to post by reeferman



It was the only way to avoid the mountains.

I just happen to run into it in Oceanside.

If they make it with no problems...

It will be a very impressive feat.

reply to post by whyamIhere
Do you have any better pictures show what it is actually carrying, not just the wheels. You only show part of the frame of the load, any from further back to get a decent look at the thing.

reply to post by acrux


I added another photo showing the cargo.

It is now the top picture.

Thanks for the input...

reply to post by whyamIhere


Thanks for that.

regards.

PS how the hell do they take corners.

Probably, very carefully.

Different road trains

en.wikipedia.org...

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A is a B-double.

B is a B-triple.

C is a double road train. A "Pocket road train" is similar, but with shorter trailers and dolly drawbar.

D is an AB-triple.

E is a BAB Quad.

F is an ABB Quad.

G is triple road train.

H is a 2AB Quad.

K represents the largest road trains operating in Australia, and therefore, the world. Called a "Powertrain" or a "Body and six", these machines operate at The Granites Gold Mine in the western Northern Territory, and are used inplace of 200 t (197 long tons; 220 short tons) dump trucks, because of the distances involved on the haul run. A 600 hp (450 kW) 19 L (1,200 cu in) Cummins engine powers the prime mover, whilst a 400 hp (300 kW) Cummins engine is installed in the rear trailer of the B-double, driving through an automatic transmission, giving a total of 1,000 hp (750 kW). Weights of 460 t (453 long tons; 507 short tons) are achieved with ore loading in side-tipper bodies on a 100 km (62 mi) round trip. As these trucks operate on private property, they are not subject to governed weight and length rulings, but instead are utilised in the most efficient way possible.


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These are extremely common on our roads the B-double. Still daunting when they decide to overtake you.

reply to post by acrux


The biggest I have seen is the triple...Which is illegal here.

This one is 3x's bigger at 399 ft.

The turning radius is 70 ft.

That's for all the great information.

I found this video on youtube.

This gives you a better idea of how massive this thing is.