Officials set up trip for reactor

AIKEN - Taking a decommissioned nuclear reactor from Maine to its South Carolina burial ground is a herculean task with a checklist of steps.

This week, workers at the now-defunct Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. power station, formerly that state's largest power provider, began positioning special tractor-trailers at the substantially dismantled site.

The trucks will maneuver the facility's reactor vessel, already prepared for shipment, to a barge about 50 yards away.

The barge, expected to arrive on Maine's Back River by the end of the week, will ship the mothballed vessel from the town of Wiscasset to the Chem-Nuclear low-level radioactive waste site in Barnwell, S.C.

"The reactor vessel is the last large component to leave the site," said Eric Howes, the spokesman for Maine Yankee.

The entire package weighs about 1,175 tons, he said. That includes the concrete filling the vessel, which protects against lingering radioactivity, along with the outer safety packaging and the shipping cradle the unit rests on.

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Mr. Howes said the trucks will use hydraulic lifts to get the cargo into the boat.

He said it will take several days to tie and weld the equipment in place before the barge can sail.

In all, the efforts of about 30 people will be required.

The barge will be pulled by two tugboats with tow ropes.

Before the ship can sail, Mr. Howes said, fishermen have to be warned to move their gear from the channel.

The expected departure date is May 8. Mr. Howes said it will take about two weeks to sail to Savannah, Ga., where the barge will start the 160-mile trip up the Savannah River to Barnwell.

The reactor will dock at Savannah River Site, then be trucked through the Energy Department site to Chem-Nuclear, near SRS.

Reach Eric Williamson at (803) 279-6895 or eric.williamson@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Thursday, May 1, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle