The Railways and Britain’s Nuclear Industry

This book is about the important role played by the nation’s railways in Britain’s nuclear industry. It sets the scene with a brief history of nuclear power in Britain and the technology behind it, not just the reactors but the plants that processed the uranium, built the fuel elements and reprocessed the spent fuel

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This book shows the important role played by the nation's railways in the nuclear industry and how the need to secure that service through the turbulence of privatisation led to the creation of the nation's most diverse railway company, Direct Rail Services.

1945 marked the beginning of the Labour government that would nationalise the railways and witnessed the start of British nuclear weapon development, which led to a civil nuclear industry. By the 1990s both industries were heading for privatisation, though neither would truly be free from government control. This book provides a brief history of British nuclear power and technology, and goes on to illustrate the transport of spent nuclear fuel from around the world to the Sellafield reprocessing plant.

In the twenty-first century the decommissioning of reactors and defence establishments across England added to the loads travelling by rail to the national Low Level Waste Repository. The railways also transported chemicals for the nuclear industry, construction materials and - at least in part - the industry's workers too. Direct Rail Services took over this traffic and became a major player in the rail freight business, with a significant role in the nation's passenger market. The book illustrates this transformation and explains why it happens.