Nuclear flask
A nuclear flask is a shipping container, used to transport active nuclear materials between nuclear power station and spent fuel reprocessing facilities. Each shipping container is designed to maintain its integrity under normal transportation conditions and during hypothetical accident conditions, they must protect their contents against damage such as impact or fire. They must contain their contents from leakage, both for physical leakage and for radiological shielding. Spent nuclear fuel shipping casks are used to transport spent nuclear fuel used in nuclear power plants and research reactors to disposal sites such as the nuclear reprocessing center at COGEMA La Hague site. Railway-carried flasks are used to transport spent fuel from nuclear power stations in the UK and the Sellafield spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility; each flask weighs more than 50 tonnes, transports not more than 2.5 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel. Over the past 35 years, British Nuclear Fuels plc and its subsidiary PNTL have conducted over 14,000 cask shipments of SNF worldwide, transporting more than 9,000 tonnes of SNF over 16 million miles via road and sea without a radiological release.
BNFL designed and own and operate a fleet of 170 casks of the Excellox design. BNFL has maintained a fleet of transport casks to ship SNF for the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Japan for reprocessing. In the UK a series of public demonstrations were conducted in which spent fuel flasks were subjected to simulated accident conditions. A randomly selected flask from the production line was first dropped from a tower; the flask was dropped in such a way. The lid of the flask was damaged but little material escaped from the flask. A little water escaped from the flask but it was thought that in a real accident that the escape of radioactivity associated with this water would not be a threat to humans or their environment. For a second test the same flask was fitted with a new lid, filled again with steel bars and water before a train was driven into it at high speed; the flask survived with only cosmetic damage. Although referred to as a test, the actual stresses the flask underwent were well below what they are designed to withstand, as much of the energy from the collision was absorbed by the train and in moving the flask some distance.
This flask is on display at the training center at Heysham 1 Power Station. Introduced in the early 1960s, Magnox flasks consists of four layers. Flasks for waste from the advanced gas cooled reactor power stations are similar, but have thinner steel main walls at 90-millimetre-thick thickness, to allow room for extensive internal lead shielding; the flask is protected by a bolt hasp. All the flasks are owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the owners of Direct Rail Services. A train conveying flasks would be hauled by two locomotives, either Class 20 or Class 37, but Class 66 and Class 68 locomotives are being used. Greenpeace protest that flasks in rail transit pose a hazard to passengers standing on platforms, although many tests performed by the Health and Safety Executive have proved that it is safe for passengers to stand on the platform while a flask passes by; the crashworthiness of the flask was demonstrated publicly when a British Rail Class 46 locomotive was forcibly driven into a derailed flask at 100 miles per hour.
Additionally, flasks were heated to temperatures of over 800 °C to prove safety in a fire. However, critics consider the testing flawed for various reasons; the heat test is claimed to be below that of theoretical worst-case fires in a tunnel, the worst case impact today would have a closing speed of around 170 miles per hour. There have been several accidents involving flasks, including derailments, a flask being dropped during transfer from train to road, with no leakage having occurred. Problems have been found where flasks "sweat", when small amounts of radioactive material absorbed into paint migrate to the surface, causing contamination risks. Studies identified that 10–15% of flasks in the United Kingdom were suffering from this problem, but none exceeded the international recommended safety limits. Similar flasks in mainland Europe were found to marginally exceed the contamination limits during testing, additional monitoring procedures were put into place. In order to reduce the risk, current UK flask wagons are fitted with a lockable cover to ensure any surface contamination remains within the container, all containers are tested before shipment, with those exceeding the safety level being cleaned until they are within the limit.
A report in 2001 identified potential risks, actions to be taken to ensure safety. In the United States, the acceptability of the design of each cask is judged against Title 10, Part 71, of the Code of Federal Regulations (other nations' shipping casks excluding R
Crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a workyard; the word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved in operating a ship a sailing ship, providing numerous specialities within a ship's crew organised with a chain of command. Traditional nautical usage distinguishes officers from crew, though the two groups combined form the ship's company. Members of a crew are referred to by the title Crewman. Crew refers to the sport of rowing, where teams row competitively in racing shells. For a specific sporting usage, see rowing crew. For filmmaking usage, see film crew. For live music usage, see road crew. For analogous entities in research on human judgment and decision-making, see team and judge–advisor system. For stagecraft usage, see stage crew. For video production usage, see television crew. For the comic strip, see Motley's Crew. For the sports team, see Columbus Crew SC. For the 2014 video game, see The Crew.
For crews in aviation and the airline industry, see groundcrew and aircrew. Tank crew Boat crew Yacht Job Descriptions and Salary Guide
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England, the Midlands, most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838, it was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft —later widened to 7 ft 1⁄4 in —but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it operate 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in standard-gauge trains. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, it was merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways; the GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round" but it was famed as the "Holiday Line", taking many people to English and Bristol Channel resorts in the West Country as well as the far south-west of England such as Torquay in Devon, Minehead in Somerset, Newquay and St Ives in Cornwall.
The company's locomotives, many of which were built in the company's workshops at Swindon, were painted a Brunswick green colour while, for most of its existence, it used a two-tone "chocolate and cream" livery for its passenger coaches. Goods wagons were painted red but this was changed to mid-grey. Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman, the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express, it operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam railmotors or autotrains. The company pioneered the use of more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain, it operated a network of road motor routes, was a part of the Railway Air Services, owned ships and hotels. The Great Western Railway originated from the desire of Bristol merchants to maintain their city as the second port of the country and the chief one for American trade; the increase in the size of ships and the gradual silting of the River Avon had made Liverpool an attractive port, with a Liverpool to London rail line under construction in the 1830s Bristol's status was threatened.
The answer for Bristol was, with the co-operation of London interests. The company was founded at a public meeting in Bristol in 1833 and was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835. Isambard Kingdom Brunel aged twenty-nine, was appointed engineer; this was by far Brunel's largest contract to date. He made two controversial decisions. Firstly, he chose to use a broad gauge of 7 ft to allow for the possibility of large wheels outside the bodies of the rolling stock which could give smoother running at high speeds. Secondly, he selected a route, north of the Marlborough Downs, which had no significant towns but which offered potential connections to Oxford and Gloucester; this meant. From Reading heading west, the line would curve in a northerly sweep back to Bath. Brunel surveyed the entire length of the route between London and Bristol himself, with the help of many, including his solicitor Jeremiah Osborne of Bristol law firm Osborne Clarke who on one occasion rowed Brunel down the River Avon himself to survey the bank of the river for the route.
George Thomas Clark played an important role as an engineer on the project, reputedly taking the management of two divisions of the route including bridges over the River Thames at Lower Basildon and Moulsford and of Paddington Station. Involvement in major earth-moving works seems to have fed Clark's interest in geology and archaeology and he, authored two guidebooks on the railway: one illustrated with lithographs by John Cooke Bourne; the first 22 1⁄2 miles of line, from Paddington station in London to Maidenhead Bridge station, opened on 4 June 1838. When Maidenhead Railway Bridge was ready the line was extended to Twyford on 1 July 1839 and through the deep Sonning Cutting to Reading on 30 March 1840; the cutting was the scene of a railway disaster two years when a goods train ran into a landslip. This accident prompted Parliament to pass the 1844 Railway Regulation Act requiring railway companies to provide better carriages for passengers; the next section, from Reading to Steventon crossed the Thames twice and opened for traffic on 1 June 1840.
A 7 1⁄4-mile extension took the line to Faringdon Road on 20 July 1840. Meanwhile, work had started at the Bristol end of the line, where the 11 1⁄2-mile section to Bath opened on 31 August 1840. On 17 December 1840, the line from London reached a temporary terminus at Wootton Bassett Road west of Swindon and 80.25 miles from Paddington. The section from Wootton Bassett Road to Chippenham was opened on 31 May 1841, as was Swindon Junction station where the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway to Cirencester connected; that was an independent line worked by the GWR, as was the Bristol and Exeter Railway, the first section of which from Bristol to Bridgwater was opened on 14 June 1841. The GWR main line remained incomplete during the construction of the 1-mile-1,452-yard Box Tunnel, ready for trains on 30 June 1841, after which trains ran the 152 miles from Paddington through to Bridgwater. In 1851, the GWR purchased the Kennet and Avon Canal, a competing carrier between London, Reading and Bristol.
The GWR
Glossary of rail transport terms
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term railroad and the international term railway is the most significant difference in rail terminology. There are others, due to the parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world. Various global terms are presented here; the abbreviation "UIC" refers to standard terms adopted by the International Union of Railways in its official publications and thesaurus. Adhesion railway The most common type of railway, where power is applied by driving some or all of the wheels of the locomotive Adhesive weight The weight on the driving wheels of a locomotive, which determines the frictional grip between wheels and rail, hence the drawbar pull a locomotive can exert Air brake A power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium Alerter or watchdog Similar to the dead man's switch other than it does not require the operator's constant interaction. Instead, an alarm is sounded at a preset interval in which the operator must respond by pressing a button to reset the alarm and timer if no other controls are operated.
If the operator does not respond within a preset time, the prime mover is automatically throttled back to idle and the brakes are automatically applied. All weather adhesion The adhesion available during traction mode with 99% reliability in all weather conditions Alternator An electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current American Locomotive Company The second largest builder of steam locomotives in the United States American type A steam locomotive with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement Angle cock A valve affixed to each end of a piece of rolling stock that, when opened, admits compressed air to the brake pipe Articulated locomotive A steam locomotive with one or more engine units that can move relative to the main frame Articulation The sharing of one truck by adjacent ends of two rail vehicles Ashpan A feature of a locomotive with the same form and purpose as the domestic variety; the only significant difference is the size, measured in feet rather than inches.
Asynchronous An alternating current electric motor whose speed varies with load and has no fixed relation to the frequency of the supply Atlantic type A steam locomotive with a 4-4-2 wheel arrangement Automatic block signaling A system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of blocks and functions to control the movement of trains between them through automatic signals Automatic train control A system that applies an emergency brake if the driver does not react to certain signals or speed restrictions Automatic train operation An operational safety enhancement device used to help automate operations of trains Automatic train protection A system that enforces obedience to signals and speed restrictions by speed supervision, including automatic stop at signals Autotrain A branch-line train consisting of a steam locomotive and passenger carriages that can be driven from either end by means of rodding to the regulator and an additional vacuum brake valve.
The fireman remains with the locomotive and, when the driver is at the other end, the fireman controls the cut off and vacuum ejectors in addition to his usual duties. See also: Push-pull train. Axlebox or axle box The housing that holds the axle bearings on a rail vehicle The housing that attaches to the end of the axle to the bogie and contains the bearing on which the axle rotates See journal box below. Backhead The cab-side rear panel of a steam locomotive boiler through which the firebox is accessed. Bad order A note applied to a defective piece of equipment. Equipment tagged as bad order must not be used until repaired and approved for use. Bail off To release the locomotive brakes while the train brakes are applied, to permit smoother handling and prevent excessive slack, wheel slide and flat wheels Balancing The reciprocation and revolving masses of any steam, diesel or electric locomotive need balancing, if it is to work smoothly. Revolving masses can be balanced by counterweights, but the balancing of reciprocating parts is a matter of compromise and judgement.
Balise A transponder, used as a intermittent data point in an automatic train protection system or as reference point for train location in radio-based train control Ballast Aggregate stone, gravel, or cinders forming the track bed on which sleepers and track are laid to ensure stability and proper drainage Ballast tamper See Tamping machine. Balloon A looped length of track at the end of a spur or branch, which trains use to turn around for the return trip without reversing or shunting. Can be used as part of a freight installation to allow the loading or unloading of bulk materials without the need to stop the train. Bay platform A platform and track arrangement where the train pulls into a siding, or dead-end, when serving the platform Beep A one-of-a-kind switcher locomotive built by the Atchison and Santa Fe Railway in 1970 Bellmouth A widening of an underground rail tunnel, in preparation for future connection or expansion of service. Used in subway nomenclature. Berkshire type A steam locomotive with a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement Blastpipe A part of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney to increase draught through the fire Block section A section
Iowa
Iowa is a state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states. In colonial times, Iowa was a part of Spanish Louisiana. After the Louisiana Purchase, people laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy made the transition to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, financial services, information technology and green energy production. Iowa is the 26th most extensive in land area and the 30th most populous of the 50 U. S states, its capital and largest city by population is Des Moines. Iowa has been listed as one of the safest states in, its nickname is the Hawkeye State. Iowa derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many Native American tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east.
The southern border is the Des Moines River and a not-quite-straight line along 40 degrees 35 minutes north, as decided by the U. S. Supreme Court in Missouri v. Iowa after a standoff between Missouri and Iowa known as the Honey War. Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are formed by rivers. Iowa has 99 counties; the state capital, Des Moines, is in Polk County. Iowa's bedrock geology increases in age from west to east. In northwest Iowa, Cretaceous bedrock can be 74 million years old. Iowa is not flat. Iowa can be divided into eight landforms based on glaciation, soils and river drainage. Loess hills lie along the western border of the state. Northeast Iowa along the Upper Mississippi River is part of the Driftless Area, consisting of steep hills and valleys which appear mountainous. Several natural lakes exist, most notably Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, East Okoboji Lake in northwest Iowa. To the east lies Clear Lake. Man-made lakes include Lake Odessa, Saylorville Lake, Lake Red Rock, Coralville Lake, Lake MacBride, Rathbun Lake.
The state's northwest area has many remnants such as Barringer Slough. Iowa's natural vegetation is tallgrass prairie and savanna in upland areas, with dense forest and wetlands in flood plains and protected river valleys, pothole wetlands in northern prairie areas. Most of Iowa is used for agriculture; the Southern part of Iowa is categorised as the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion. The Northern, drier part of Iowa is categorised as the Central tall grasslands and is thus considered to be part of the Great Plains. There is a dearth of natural areas in Iowa; as of 2005 Iowa ranked 49th of U. S. states in public land holdings. Threatened or endangered animals in Iowa include the interior least tern, piping plover, Indiana bat, pallid sturgeon, the Iowa Pleistocene land snail, Higgins' eye pearly mussel, the Topeka shiner. Endangered or threatened plants include western prairie fringed orchid, eastern prairie fringed orchid, Mead's milkweed, prairie bush clover, northern wild monkshood.
There is little proof to suggest that the explosion in the number of high-density livestock facilities in Iowa has led to increased rural water contamination and a decline in air quality. In fact, covered manure storage in modern barns prevent that manure from washing away into surface water, as it does in open lots as snow melts and thunderstorms occur. Other factors negatively affecting Iowa's environment include the extensive use of older coal-fired power plants and pesticide runoff from crop production, diminishment of the Jordan Aquifer. Iowa has a humid continental climate throughout the state with extremes of both cold; the average annual temperature at Des Moines is 50 °F. Winters are harsh and snowfall is common. Spring ushers in the beginning of the severe weather season. Iowa averages about 50 days of thunderstorm activity per year; the 30 year annual average Tornadoes in Iowa is 47. In 2008, twelve people were killed by tornadoes in Iowa, making it the deadliest year since 1968 and the second most tornadoes in a year with 105, matching the total from 2001.
Iowa summers are known for heat and humidity, with daytime temperatures sometimes near 90 °F and exceeding 100 °F. Average winters in the state have been known to drop well below freezing dropping below −18 °F. Iowa's all-time hottest temperature of 118 °F was recorded at Keokuk on July 20, 1934. Iowa has a smooth gradient of var
Train
A train is a form of transport consisting of a series of connected vehicles that runs along a rail track to transport cargo or passengers. The word "train" comes from the Old French trahiner, derived from the Latin trahere meaning "to pull" or "to draw". Motive power for a train is provided by a separate locomotive or individual motors in a self-propelled multiple unit. Although steam propulsion dominated, the most common types of locomotive are diesel and electric, the latter supplied by overhead wires or additional rails. Trains can be hauled by horses, pulled by engine or water-driven cable or wire winch, run downhill using gravity, or powered by pneumatics, gas turbines or batteries. Train tracks consist of two running rails, sometimes supplemented by additional rails such as electric conducting rails and rack rails. Monorails and maglev guideways are used occasionally. A passenger train includes passenger-carrying vehicles and can be long and fast. One notable and growing long-distance train.
In order to achieve much faster operation at speeds of over 500 km/h, innovative maglev technology has been the subject of research for many years. The term "light rail" is sometimes used to refer to a modern tram system, but it may mean an intermediate form between a tram and a train, similar to a heavy rail rapid transit system. In most countries, the distinction between a tramway and a railway is precise and defined in law. A freight train uses freight cars to transport materials, it is possible to carry passengers and freight in the same train using a mixed consist. Rail cars and machinery that are used for the maintenance and repair of tracks, are termed "maintenance of way" equipment. Dedicated trains may be used to provide support services to stations along a train line, such as garbage or revenue collection. There are various types of train. A train can consist of a combination of one or more locomotives and attached railroad cars, or a self-propelled multiple unit, or a single or articulated powered coach called a railcar.
Special kinds of train running on corresponding purpose-built "railways" are monorails, high-speed railways, atmospheric railways, rubber-tired underground and cog railways. A passenger train consists of several coaches. Alternatively, a train may consist of passenger-carrying coaches, some or all of which are powered. In many parts of the world the Far East and Europe, high-speed rail is used extensively for passenger travel. Freight trains consist of wagons or trucks rather than carriages, though some parcel and mail trains appear outwardly to be more like passenger trains. Trains can have mixed consist, with both passenger accommodation and freight vehicles; these mixed trains are most to be used for services that run infrequently, where the provision of separate passenger and freight trains would not be cost-effective, but the disparate needs of passengers and freight means that this is avoided where possible. Special trains are used for track maintenance. In the United Kingdom, a train hauled using two locomotives is known as a "double-headed" train.
In Canada and the United States, it is quite common for a long freight train to be headed by three or more locomotives. A train with a locomotive attached at both ends is described as "top and tailed", this practice being used when there are no reversing facilities available. Where a second locomotive is attached temporarily to assist a train when ascending steep banks or gradients, this is referred to as "banking" in the UK. Many loaded trains in the US are assembled using one or more locomotives in the middle or at the rear of the train, which are operated remotely from the lead cab; this is referred to as "DP" or "Distributed Power." The railway terminology, used to describe a train varies between countries. In the United Kingdom, the interchangeable terms set and unit are used to refer to a group of permanently or semi-permanently coupled vehicles, such as those of a multiple unit. While when referring to a train made up of a variety of vehicles, or of several sets/units, the term formation is used.
The word rake is used for a group of coaches or wagons. Section 83 of the UK's Railways Act 1993 defines "train" as follows: a) two or more items of rolling stock coupled together, at least one of, a locomotive. In the United States, the term consist is used to describe the group of rail vehicles that make up a train; when referring to motive power, consist refers to the group of locomotives powering the train. The term trainset refers to a group of rolling stock, permanently or semi-permanently coupled together to form a unified set of equipment. There are three types of locomotive: electric and steam; the Atchison and Santa Fe Railway's 1948 operating rules define a train as: "An engine or more than one engine coupled, with or without cars, displaying markers." A bogie is trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle, it can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage or locomotive, o
