Truck Hauling Nuclear Generator Concerns Restaurant Owners

Francesco Cusimano and wife Fillippa arrived Thursday at the Italian restuarant they own in Murrieta to find a massive truck carrying radioactive waste parked across the street.

Fillippa Cusimano, co-owner of on Hunter Road, said they received calls from several concerned customers, curious about the spectacle parked near their restaurant. She said they weren't told about the stop about 100 feet from their restaurant.

That's because the route of the 400-foot-long, 192-wheel truck that hauled a radioactive steam generator through Temecula early Thursday is being kept under tight wraps.

It poses not threat to the public, according to officials, but that didn't stop the Cusimanos from being concerned.

While the restaurant was bustling by dinner time, Cusimano said there was little to no business earlier in the day.

"We want everyone to know we are open, we are safe," said Cusimano, who did her research online to be sure.

By evening though, the crowd of spectators had grown, and increased business at the restaurant.

The truck drove 14 miles at 10-15 mph from the Temecula Border Patrol checkpoint to Winchester Road near Hunter Road, where it parked for the day, officials said.

Scott Andresen, spokesperson for Southern California Edison, which operates the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station where the generator was being trucked from, said there was no public risk.

It attracted some onlookers earlier Thursday afternoon.

Passers-by would have had to stand by the truck for an hour to receive about the same amount of radiation exposure as they would from a dental X-ray, he said.

Melissa Ransom and her husband, Chuck Ransom, of Hemet, brought a few onlookers with them to check out the sight.

"This is amazing. A lot of work has gone into this," Melissa said, who has been following the story for two weeks now and came out to take some photos.

The roadside stop on the outskirts of Murrieta was planned, Andresen, but said he can't divulge the route or where the next stop will be.

"This is completely safe for the public," said Andresen, who for five days has been traveling with the convoy.

The convoy consists of five trucks to carry the 758,000-pound generator. It was created especially by Perkins Transportation of Minnesota to haul the old generator, according to Andresen.

It can take 25 minutes to make a 90-degree turn, but the contraption is capable of it, he said.

The generator, mostly blue in color, is one of four original ones that have serviced the nuclear plant since the early 1980s, Andresen said.

Crews sleep during the day, while security guards keep watch over the load. About 35 people make up the crew.

After resting Wednesday at the Temecula Border Patrol checkpoint, the truck took Interstate 15 north, exited Temecula Parkway and went east, turned north on Margarita Road and northeast again on Winchester Road.

Crew members removed numerous signs from the center median at Margarita and Winchester roads as the monstrous vehicle maneuvered through the intersection.

The vehicle, called a "road train," started at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Diego County and will end at a disposal facility called Energy Solutions in Clive, Utah, according to Andresen.

Andresen could not say where the truck was headed when it leaves the area tonight for security concerns.

The truck will return to San Diego County later this year for three more identical trips, according to Southern California Edison, the utility company moving the 30-year-old generator. Due to its sensitive load, the truck can only travel at night and at speeds of no more than 25 mph.

The 823-mile trip will take three weeks, Andresen said. The exact path of the truck, which is longer than a football field, was being kept under wraps for security reasons.

"This has less than half of the radioactive level allowed by the Department of Transportation regulations," Andresen said.

Once in Utah, the truck will be broken down into seven pieces and shipped back to San Onofre, then reassembled to haul a second generator. The process will be repeated two more times until a total of four radioactive steam generators from San Onofre are in Utah for disposal, Andresen said.

The generators are being moved because they have each been replaced by new, nearly identical steam generators brought to California from Japan over the past two years as part of a $674 million project.

Southern California Edison decided to replace the large metal capsules after engineers spotted microscopic cracks in some of the generators' internal plumbing.

The generators help to convert the heat of nuclear fission into steam to spin a plant's electricity-generating turbines.

Andresen said the trip thus far has gone smoothly.

"We have not had any malfunctions. Our first priority is the safety of the public and so we have gone a little slower."

City News Service contributed to this report.