Russia is Planing a Nuclear Super Train

Russian railways is planing to build a nuclear powered train. With a power source similar to the ones used in nuclear-submarines.

According to RZhD vice-president Valentin Gapanovich, the train, consisting of 11 carriages, will be used for scientific purposes.

The estimated cost of construction is as yet unknown, as well as the safety measures for such transport.

Vice-president of Russian Railways (RZhD) Valentin Gapanovich says they will present the layout of the train by the end of this year.

In the middle of the 20th Century the transport industry almost fell in love with the idea of nuclear-powered vehicles.

In 1958, the Russian newspaper Gudok (The Horn) wrote that “even though a nuclear-powered locomotive is likely to weigh more than a steam or diesel one of the same power capacity, it can be sent to remote areas such as the Arctic, where it can work throughout the winter season without additional supplies.”

Another feature with the proposed nuclear powered train is that it can easily be converted to a mobile nuclear power plant, supplying energy to remote areas and industrial sites.

Russia is currently building the world’s first floating nuclear power plant. The barge to hold the reactors was set afloat in June last year at the yard in St. Petersburg.

The idea of using nuclear power in everyday life seemed very tempting for the US engineers too. Ford Motor Company developed the Ford Nucleon – a nuclear-powered concept car – in 1958.

The vehicle did not include an internal-combustion engine; it was powered by a small nuclear reactor in the rear of the car. It was a steam engine powered by uranium fission, similar to how nuclear submarines work. However, Ford Nucleon never went into production.