Alaron Nuclear Services, a Veolia affiliate, said in a Jan. 5 news release it has finished a project to double the rail capacity at its low-level radioactive waste transfer site in Western Pennsylvania.
The Veolia Nuclear Solutions – Federal Services business said completion of the project enables up to 24 rail cars on the Alaron facility, which is a transfer site for debris and soil produced through nuclear decommissioning. The waste is ultimately sent on to low-level disposal sites.
The Department of Energy remediation contractor for the West Valley Demonstration Project in Ashford, N.Y., has sent Alaron much debris from its tear-down of a vitrification plant.
The expansion should give waste generators within 500 miles or more access to a cheaper alternative to truck transport for low-level waste disposal, Alaron said in the news release.
The Alaron rail facility provides “transloading,” a shipping term that refers to moving goods from one mode of transportation to another. Rising diesel prices and a driver shortage have driven up the cost of hauling waste by truck in recent times, Alaron said in the release.
Alaron typically puts such waste into covered gondola cars, according to the release. In 2023, Alaron will begin an arrangement with customers to use an on-site non-radioactive storage area for their equipment. This will result in more transloading and storage opportunities at Alaron. The Veolia company’s facility has more than 150,000 square feet of indoor space and 15 acres of outdoor storage space.
